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MEDICAL,  ECONOMICAL,  AND  AGRICULTURAL. 


BEING    ALSO    A 


MEDICAL  BOTANY  OF  THE  CONFEDERATE  STATES | 


PRACTICAL  INFORMATION  ON  THE  USEFUL  PROPERTIES  OF  THE  TREES,  PLANTS, 

AND  SHRUBS. 


BY  FRANCIS  PEYRE  PORCHER, 

SURGEON   P.  A.  C.  S. 


PREPARED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  SURGEON-GENERAL, 
RICHMOND,  VA. 


CHARLESTON : 

STEAM-POWER   PRESS    OF    EVANS    fc    COGSWELL, 
No.  3  Broad  Street. 

1863. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1863,  by 

FRANCIS  PEYRE  PORCHER,  M.  D., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Confederate  States,  for  the  District  of  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina. 

Printed  by  Evans  &  Cogswell,  No.  3  Broad  sireex,  Charleston,  S.  C. 


r 


PREFACE. 


MEDICINAL  AND  USEFUL  PLANTS  AND  TEEES  OF 
/    THE  CONFEDERATE  STATES  — INDIGENOUS 
AND  INTRODUCED. 

The  following  paper  is  prepared  by  direction  of  the  Surgeon- 
General,  for  which  purpose  the  author  was  released  tempora- 
rily from  service  in  the  field  and  hospital. 

It  is  intended  as  a  repertory  of  scientific  and  popular  knowl- 
edge as  regards  the  medicinal,  economical,  and  useful  properties 
of  the  trees,  plants,  and  shrubs  found  within  the  limits  of  the 
Confederate  States,  whether  employed  in  the  arts,  for  manufac- 
turing purposes,  or  in  domestic  economy,  to  supply  a  present  as 
well  as  a  future  want.  Treating  specially  of  our  medicinal 
plants  and  of  the  best  substitutes  for  foreign  articles  of  vegeta- 
ble origin,  my  aim  has  been  to  spare  no  exertions,  compatible 
with  the  limits  assigned  me,  to  make  it  applicable  as  well  to 
the  requirements  of  the  Surgeon  as  of  the  Planter  and  Farmer; 
and  I  trust  that  after  the  war  shall  have  ceased  there  will 
still  be  no  diminution  in  the  desire  of  every  one  to  possess  a 
source  from  whence  his  curiosity  may  be  satisfied  on  matters 
pertaining  to  our  useful  plants.  The  Regimental  Surgeon  in 
the  field,  the  Physician  in  his  private  practice,  or  the  Planter  on 
his  estate  may  themselves  collect  and  apply  these  substances 
within  their  reach,  which  are  frequently  quite  as  valuable  as 
others  obtained  from  abroad,  and  either  impossible  to  be  pro- 
cured or  scarce  and  costly.  But  information  scattered  through 
a  variety  of  sources  must  needs  be  firs  j  collected  to  be  available 
in  any  practical  point  of  view. 

I  have,  therefore,  inserted  whatever  I  thought  would  throw 
light  upon  the  vegetable  productions  of  the  Confederate  States, 


IV  PREFACE. 

to  enable  every  one  to  use  the  ample  material  within  his  reach. 
I  have  searched,  through  the  various  catalogues  and  systematic 
works  on  botany,  and  noticed  in  almost  every  instance  the 
habitat  and  precise  locality  of  plants,  that  each  one  may  be 
apprised  of  the  proximity  of  valuable  species. 

Catalogues  of  the  trees  and  plants  growing  in  special  local- 
ities thus  become  of  great  service,  as  they  indicate  precisely 
where  valuable  species  may  be  procured.  Those  interested 
may  obtain  the  localities  of  many  plants  found  in  the  Confeder- 
ate States  by  consulting  Elliott's  Botany,  Darby's,  and  the 
recent  work  by  Chapman,  of  Florida,  "  The  Flora  of  the  South- 
ern United  States."  Among  the  catalogues  issued  at  the  South 
are  one  by  Dr.  Jno.  Bachman  of  "  Plants  growing  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Charleston,"  published  in  the  Southern  Agriculturist; 
one  by  Prof.  Louis  B.  Gribbes  of  those  found  in  Bichland  dis- 
trict, S.  C.j  "Plants  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Newbern,  1ST.  C," 
by  H.  B.  Croomj  an  unfinished  paper,  by  W.  Wragg  Smith, 
Esq.,  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Elliott  Society  of 
Charleston ;  and  "A  Medico-Botanical  Catalogue  of  the  Plants 
of  St.  John's,  Berkley,  S.  C,"  by  the  writer.  Also  my  "  Sketch 
of  the  Medical  Botany  of  South  Carolina,"  published  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  An  .  Med  Association,  vol.  ii,  1849,  and 
"  Besources  of  the  Southern  Fields  and  Forests,"  De  Bow's 
Beview,  August,  1861.  The  extensive  collection  in  the  Charles- 
ton Museum  by  my  friend,  Mr.  H.  W.  Bavenel,  as  well  as  the 
several  publications  of  himself  and  Mr.  M.  A.  Curtis,  of  Hills- 
borough, 1ST.  C,  might  also  be  consulted  with  profit.  I  have 
availed  myself  of  Dr.  Chapman's  work  in  ascertaining  the 
names  of  plants  added  by  botanists  since  the  time  of  Walter 
and  Elliott,  and  not  contained  in  the  catalogues  referred  to. 
The  plants  have  been  arranged  after  the  Natural  system, 
adopting  for  the  most  part  the  views  of  Lindley. 

The  reference  to  information  contained  in  books*  serves  the 
purpose  of  showing  those  interested  in  any  production  or  manu- 
facture where  fuller  details,  which  are  too  long  to  insert,  can 
be  procured.    It  will  be  seen  from  inspecting  the  list  of  author- 

*I  take  this  occasion  to  express  my  indebtedness  to  Col.  J.  B.  Moore,  of  State- 
burg,  S.  C,  for  the  use  of  a  valuable  library  of  agricultural  and  chemical  books, 
and  for  many  facilities  afforded  me  in  the  prosecution  of  this  work;  also,  to  Prof. 
L.  R.  Gribbes,  for  the  loan  of  the  catalogues  in  his  possession. 


PREFACE.  V 

ities,  that  the  labor  of  searching  through  the  large  number  of 
medical  and  other  authorities  has  been  very  great.  I  have  not 
hesitated  to  draw  largely  from  any  quarter,  appending  the 
name  of  the  author,  whenever  I  thought  the  matter  applicable 
to  our  present  condition  and  requirements.  Thus,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Grape,  Vine,  Sugar,  Sorghum,  Tannin,  Opium,  Flax, 
Mustard,  Castor  oil,  Oils,  Turpentine,  Starch,  Potash,  Soda, 
"Wood  for  engraving  and  for  domestic  purposes,  Medicinal  sub- 
stances, etc.,  I  have  been  profuse  in  my  selections  from  a  multi- 
plicity of  sources. 

I  have  avoided  more  than  a  cursory  mention  of  the  Crypto- 
gamic  plants,  Fungi,  etc.,  as  the  space  occupied  would  be  too 
great.  I  would  refer  the  reader  to  my  paper  in  the  Transac- 
tions of  the  Am.  Med.  Association,  vol.  vii,  on  "  The  Medicinal, 
Dietetic,  and  Poisonous  Properties  of  the  Cryptogamic  Plants 
of  the  United  States/'  where  the  subject  is  treated  in  extenso, 
and  a  description  of  several  hundred  useful  or  poisonous  species 
furnished. 

The  older  as  well  as  the  more  recent  works  on  the  Materia 
Medica,  Therapeutics,  and  Medical  Botany  —  from  Johannes 
Eay  and-  Bergius  to  Pereira,  Griffith,  and  Stille  —  have  been 
consulted.  That  complete  and  extensive  work,  the  Diction- 
naire  de  Matiere  Medicate,  by  Merat  and  De  Lens,  including  the 
supplementary  volume,  has  been  freely  translated  when  neces- 
sary. I  have  also  examined  the  Agricultural  journals,  the 
Patent  Office  Reports,  the  "  Rural  Cyclopaedia,"  edited  by  Wil- 
son, of  Edinburgh,  and  excerpts  from  the  journals  and  newspa- 
pers of  the  day,  which  have  since  the  beginning  of  the  present 
contest  been  particularly  full  in  information  on  the  economical 
resources  of  our  Confederacy.  From  these  I  have  been  care- 
fully collecting. 

In  our  present  exigency  many  topics  are  appropriately  intro- 
duced which  would  hardly  have  place  in  a  strictly  medical 
work. 

Information  of  this  kind  is  generally  referred  to  under  sub- 
jects with  which  it  is  closely  allied.  Thus,  Potash,  Ashes,  and 
Soap  are  classed  under  "Carya"  and  "Quercus"  (Hickory  and 
Oak),  Soda  and  Soda  Soaps  under  "Salsola"  and  "Fucus," 
Charcoal  under  "Pinus"  and  "  Salix  "  (Pine  and  Willow),  Oils 
under  "  Sesamum  "  (Bene),  Starch  and  Arrow-root  under  "  Ma- 


VI  PREFACE. 

ranta  "  and  "  Convolvulus/'  etc.,  as  these  plants  are  character- 
istically rich  in  such  products.  The  index,  however,  will  con- 
tain full  references. 

The  mode  of  action  of  medicinal  plants  infinitely  varies ; 
their  selection,  consequently,  for  the  several  purposes  required 
by  the  physician  is  not  in  my  opinion  a  matter  of  mere  acci- 
dent, the  result  of  guesswork,  or  of  popular  reputation.  Each  is 
distinguished  by  the  composition  of  its  principal  constituents ; 
these  are  generally  astringent  principles,  narcotics,  stimulating 
vegetable  oils,  cooling,  refrigerant  acids,  bitter  tonics,  cathar- 
tics, etc.,  etc.  Some,  as  the  Cinchonacese  and  the  less  active 
antiperiodics,  contain  principles  still  more  rarely  met  with 
and  more  obscure  in  their  mode  of  operation,  which  have  con- 
trol in  warding  off  the  access  of  malarial  attacks.  But  once  in 
possession  of  the  main  active  principles  furnished  by  a  plant,  it 
is  easy  to  see  ivhy  it  gains  credit  as  a  remedy  in  certain  classes 
of  disease.  This  power  it  may  share  in  comniCn  with  many 
others,  and  several  properties  may  be  combined  in  various 
degrees  in  each,  which  it  is  necessary  to  know,  preliminary  to 
a  judicious  ajoplication  of  them.  Many  plants,  for  example, 
are  reputed  efficacious  in  arresting  the  profluvise,  diarrhoeas, 
and  discharges  from  the  mucous  surfaces  generally;  this  should 
excite  no  surprise  when  it  is  suspected  or  ascertained  that  they 
contain  tannin  simply.  In  some  others,  as  in  the  Uva  ursi,  for 
example,  the  tannin  is  associated  with  a  stimulating  diuretic 
oil,  which  further  adapts  it  to  the  relief  of  chronic  renal  affec- 
tions. So  with  those  Avhich  experience  teaches  us  produce  a 
carthartic,  emetic,  narcotic,  sedative,  irritant,  or  vermifuge 
action  on  the  human  system.  It  is  always  in  virtue  of  the 
well  known  principles  they  contain  that  they  prove  serviceable 
and  are  preferred,  and  chemical  analysis  subsequently  reveals 
precisely  what  it  is  upon  which  their  powers  depend.  The 
ignorant,  whether  credulous  or  incredulous,  know  only  by 
memory  the  name  of  the  plant  and  the  disease  which  it  is 
said  to  suit — as  in  the  manner  of  charlatans  and  herb  doctors. 

In  a  notice  by  my  distinguished  friend,  W.  Gilmore  Simms, 
Esq.,  of  the  article  in  De  Bow's  Eeview,  by  the  writer,  pub- 
lished in  the  Charleston  Mercury,  Sept.  1861,  he  speaks  thus 
of  the  preparations  necessary  to  the  great  issues  then  at 
stake : 


PKEFAOE.  Vll 

"Now  is  the  time  when  all  the  art  and  science  that  we  pos- 
sess, and  all  the  suggestions  that  we  can  make,  should  be  put 
in  requisition,  to  the  great  end  of  our  sectional  independence. 
Every  citizen  who  thinks  himself  in  possession  of  a  truth  or  a 
fact  which  he  deems  to  be  not  generally  recognized,  should 
make  it  public — put  it  to  challenge — that  it  may  be  subjected 
to  investigation.  In  this  way,  and  this  only,  with  our  'Doubts 
and  Queries/  shall  we  bring  about  that  searching  investigation 
which  will  develop  our  sectional  resources." 

He  refers  in  discursive  language  to  the  "  resources  of  the 
Southern  fields  and  forests,  the  natural  productions  in  brief  of 
the  South  —  her  resources  in  the  woods,  and  swamps,  and 
fields,  the  earth  and  rocks ;  for  purposes  of  need,  utility,  med- 
icine, art,  science,  and  mechanics;  hints  to  the  domestic  man- 
ufacturer ;  to  the  workers  in  wood  and  earth ;  and  rock  and 
tree;  and  shrub  and  flower;  hints,  clues,  suggestions,  which 
may  be  turned  to  the  most  useful  purposes ;  not  merely  as 
expedients  during  the  pressure  of  war  and  blockade,  but  contin- 
uously, through  all  time,  as  affording  profit,  use,  interest,  and 
employment  to  our  people." 

From  an  inspection  of  the  large  amount  of  material  em- 
braced in  this  volume  it  will  be  seen  that  our  Southern  Flora  is 
extraordinarily  rich. 

It  is  the  teeming  product  of  every  variety  of  soil  and  climate, 
from  Maryland  to  Florida,  from  Tennessee  to  Texas.  The 
Atlantic  slopes  with  their  marine  growth,  the  Mountain  ridges 
of  the  interior,  the  almost  infra-tropical  productions  of  South 
Florida,  with  the  rich  alluvia  of  the  Eiver  courses — all  contrib- 
ute to  swell  the  lists  and  produce  a  wonderful  exuberance  of 
vegetation.  These  a  bounteous  Providence  has  vouchsafed  to 
a  Confederacy  of  States,  starting  forth  Upon  their  career  under 
new  and  happier  auspices,  and  with  independence  and  self- 
reliance  forced  upon  them  by  an  almost  sacred  necessity. 

I  here  introduce  a  notice  of  upwards  of  four  hundred  sub- 
stances, possessing  every  variety  of  useful  quality.  Some  will 
be  rejected  as  useless,  others  may  be  found  upon  closer  exam- 
ination to  be  still  more  valuable.  The  most  precious  of  all 
Textile  Fibres,  and  Grains,  Silks,  Seeds,  Oils,  Gums,  Caout- 
chouc, Eesins,  Dyes,  Fecula,  Albumen,  Sugar,  Vegetable  Acids, 
Starch,  Liquors,  Spirit,  Burning  Fluid,  material   for  making 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

Paper  and  Cordage,  Barks,  Medicines,  Wood  for  Tanning  and 
the  production  of  Chemical  Agencies,  for  Timber,  Ship-build- 
ing, Engraving,  Furniture,  Implements  and  Utensils  of  every 
description — all  abound  in  the  greatest  munificence,  and  need 
but  the  arm  of  the  authorities  or  the  energy  and  enterprise 
of  the  private  citizen  to  be  made  sources  of  utility,  profit,  or 
beauty. 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 


RESOURCES  OF  THE,  SOUTHERN  FIELDS  AND  FORESTS," 


INDEX  TO  THE,  COMMON  NAMES  OF  PLANTS, 


GENERAL    INDEX 


Acacia,  false,  188. 
"      rose,  189. 

"       substitute  for,  310,  352;   see  de- 
mulcents. 
Acetic  acid,  from  pine,  498. 
Acids,  vegetable  in  plants,  369,  405,  534. 
Acorn,  bearing,  to  raise,  265 ;  substitute 

for  coffee,  535 ;  for  bread,  541 
Adam's  needles,  a  substitute  for  flax  and 

hemp,  531. 
Adder'.s  tongue,  530. 

Agaric,  substitute  for,  130;  see  styptics. 
Agave,  Virginian,  522;  Mexican,  in  Fla., 
drink  from,  522 ;  alcohol  and  materials 
for  paper  from,  522. 
Agrimony,  145,  271. 

Albumen,  plants  yielding,  uses  of,  92,  42. 
Alder,    266;    for   tanning,   267;    oil   and 

wine  from,  268;  black,  389. 
Alcohol  (see  Liquors),  in  grape,  222;  from 

sap  of  birch,  266;  from  agave,  522 
Ale  (see  Beer),  279. 
Algee,  591. 
Alkaline   salts  in  weeds  (see  Potash  and 

Soda),  504,  590. 
Alkanet,  439. 

Allspice,  199;  substitute  fov,  354. 
Aloa  (see   Zostera),  a  substitute  for  cot- 
ton, 547. 
Alumina  in  plants,  266. 
Alum  root,  138. 
Alteratives,  vegetable,  33,  121,  385,  419, 


American  centaury,  479. 
"         Colombo,  480. 
"         cranberry,  383- 
"         hemlock,  44. 
"         olive,  493. 
"  orchard  grass,,  587. 

"  spearmint,  440; 

"         silver  fir,  576. 
"         spikenard,  51. 
Ammonia,  plants  yielding,  80,  364,  474'. 
Amulet,  plant  used  as,  437. 
Amy  root,   sudorific  and  alterative,  and 

use  in  asthma,  483. 
Anassthetics,    influence   on    plants,    197; 

local,  417;  singular  native,  475. 
Anemone,  16,  17. 
Animals,  list  of  plants  avoided  by,  563 ; 

food  for,  563. 
Angelica,  46;  tree,  50. 
Aniscsced  tree,  39. 
Anodyne,  (see  Narcotics),  local,  44,  380, 

417. 
Antimony,  substitute  for,  486. 
Antiperiodics,  native,  38,  40,  43,  59,  96, 
136,  238,  267,  372,  389,  390,  404,  412, 
420,  427,  428,  436,  441,  446,  464,  480, 
484,  494. 
Antiscorbutics,  sorrel  as,  369,  370,  385. 
Antispasmodics,  native,  424,  425,  440,442, 

444,  446,  448,'  525,  533,  544. 
Antiseptics,  vegetable,  356,  424,  43S,  442; 
powder,  502;  sugar  as,  569. 


428,429,437,   460,  465,  528,  537,  538,  Anthelmintics,    native    (see   "Vermifuge), 

591.  22,  106,  362,  481,  404,  448,  527,  587. 

Ambrosia,  419.  Aphrodisiacs,  native,  440,  443,  410,470, 

American  arbor  vitas,  507.  |     524,  546. 


INDEX. 


Apple,  150:  cider  from,  151, •  liquor  from, 
160;  wood  for  printing,  150;  to  store 
up,  149;  insects  on,  to  prevent,  150; 
substitute  for  dried,  65. 

Apple,  May,  77. 

Aphis  on  apple  and  peach,  to  destroy, 
150,  173. 

Apocyne,  483. 

Arbor  vitae,  for  engraving  and  for  hedges, 
507,  173. 

Aromatics,  native,  38,  39,  45.  46,  47,  352, 
•354,  357,  380,  416,  424,  426,  444,  447, 
522,  532,  539,  546,  561,  585,  588. 

Arnica,  426. 

Arrow-head,  536. 

Arrow-root,  method  of  preparation  and 
cultivation,  512;  Indian,  510;  machine 
for  rasping,  513;  to  dry,  514;  to  pre- 
pare and  cultivate  on  plantations,  515, 
536. 

Artichoke,  420,  417;  cultivation  and  uses, 
421;  burr,  428. 

Arum,  542. 

Asarin,  357. 

Ash,  168,  167,  494. 

Ashes,  strength  of  and  yield,  259  ;  Potash, 
etc.,  in,  260  ;  use  in  soap  making,  259, 
326,  333,  590. 

Asafoetida,  substitute  for,  424. 

Asparagus  (see  Salads),  535,  175  :  subst. 
for,  275,  488,  535,  537,  538;  subst.  for 
coffee,  to  prepare,  535. 

Asparagine,  537,  535. 

Aster,  414. 

Astragalus,  177. 

Astringents,  native,  17,  18,  19,  20,  35,  58, 
59,  71,  109,  138, 140,  J  41,  144, 145,  146, 
193,  199,  200,  201  to  208,  237,  238,  239, 
257,  262,  266,  269,  271,  316,  345,  368, 
:369,  370,  372,  380,  384,  387,  388,  389, 
390,  415,  416,  424,  436,  437,  438,  439, 
441,  444,  447,  463,  467,  522,  545,  590, 
591. 

Atamasco  lily,  522. 

Avens,  white,  145. 

Ayer's  Cherry  Pectoral,  600. 

Bald  cypress,  508. 

Balm,  440;  of  Gilead  tree,  506. 

Baling  cotton,  wood  for,  325. 

Bands  for  cotton  bales,  325. 

Balsam,  tree,  130  ;  balsam  plants  yielding, 

506,  507,  509. 
Barbe  de  capucin,  433. 
Barley,  liquor  from,  164. 
Barberry,  51. 
Barilla,    plants   yielding,    133,    360    (see 

potash);  to  manufacture  from  fuci,  593. 
Barks,  to  dry,  5;  for  cordage  103;  see  fibre, 

yielding  tannin  (see  Quercus),  241,   et 

seq. 
■  Barometer,  natural,  136,  177,  384,  590. 
Bastard  alkanet,  438. 
Baskets,  material  for  making,  62,  63,  380; 

to  prepare,  339. 


Bas-s  wood,  103. 

Bay,  singular  properties  ascribed  to,  36, 

3S0. 
Beaver  tree,  36;  poison,  44. 
Bear  grass,  to  cultivate  and  prepare  fibre 

as  substitute  for  hemp,  530,  531. 
Bee  pasture,  plants  for,  423,  440. 
Beer,  native  plants  yielding,  to  make,  195, 
276,  279,   280,  353?  421,  479 ;    French 
army,353;  persimmon, 387;  to  strength- 
en, 425;  spruce,  507;  from  China  briar, 
537;  from  corn,  552;  small,  552. 
Beech,  ashes  rich  in  potash,  236 ;  oil  from, . 
237 :  leaves  for  stuffing  beds,  237 ;  drops, 
462. 
Beds,  material  to  stuff,  237,  4S8;  see  mat- 
tresses. 

Beet,  vinegar  from,  374;  to  extract  sugar 
from,  375 ;  cultivation  of,  375 ;  to  crys- 
tallize, 571.  -. 

Belladonna,  substitute  for,  470J  477. 

Bene,  oil  and  mucilage  from,  450 ;  sub- 
stitute for  castor  and  olive  oil,  450 ;  to 
extract,,  452. 

Benzoic  acid  in  plants,  561. 

Benzoin,  354. 

Bermuda  arrow-root,  to  prepare,  512; 
grass,  565. 

Birch,  red,  266;  cherry,  265;  sweet,  265. 

Bird,  catching,  392 ;  lime,  64,  390  ;  to 
prepare,  391;  to  intoxicate,  528. 

Bitters  (see  tonics),  substitute  for,  380, 
478,  532,  546. 

Biting  knotweed,  370. 

Black  alder,  339;  oak,  238;  gum,  347; 
drink,  393;  walnut,  318;  oil  from  in 
toothache,  368  :  spruce,  505,  507 ;  root, 
467,  419. 

Blackberry,  140,  141;  wine,  to  prepare, 
141,  142  ;  syrup,  143  ;  cordial,  143 ;  in 
tanning  leather,  242. 

Blade  tea,  548. 

Bladder  nut,  130. 

Blazing  star,  527. 

Bleaching  plants,  method,  90. 

Blistering  plaster,  substitute  for,  16,  17, 
IS,  19,  397;  blistering  fly,  16;  to  col- 
lect, 398  ;  see,  also,  Eseharotics. 

Blood  root,  30. 

Blue  flag,  as  a  diuretic  in  dropsy,  523 ; 
tripterella,  523;  dyes,  to  extract,  179, 
182;  plants  yielding,  187,  310,  316. 

Boats,  timber  for,  306,  509 :  bark,  508. 

Bog  rush,  589. 

Boneset,  410. 

Books,  consulted,  1. 

Bots.  native  remedy,  41,  107. 

Box,  111 ;  boxes,  material  for  packing, 
545. 

Bougie,  material  for  making,  310. 

Bows,  from  Osage  orange,  103. 

Brake,  590. 

Brandy,  native  material  for  making,  65  ; 
from  persimmon,  386. 

Bread,  substitute  for,  177 ;  from  persim- 


INDEX. 


mon,  386;  potato,  397;  from  roots  of  Carrot,  47. 

plants,  541;  hygienic,  from  corn,  549;  Cartridge-boxes,  material  for,  349. 


Indian  loaf,  599 ;  from  rice,  580 

Brewing  (see  Liquors),  280. 

Brooklime,  468. 

Brook  pimpernel,  468 ;  weed,  385. 

Broom  rape,  462. 

Brooms,  material  for,  266,  508,  526 ;  from 
doura  corn,  566,  567. 

Brushes,  native  material  for,  526. 

Buckeye,  84. 

Buckwheat,  substitute  for,  373. 

Buffalo  clover,  177;  berry  tree,  174. 

Bugle  weed,  441. 

Bulrush,  537. 

Burdock,  419. 

Burning  fluid,  see  Oil. 

Burr,  419 ;  artichoke,  428. 

Butterfly  weed,  485. 

Butternut,  317. 

Button,  snakeroot,  43,  410  ;  bush,  405. 

Buttons,  native  materials  for,  65,  84. 

Byram's  plan  of  cultivation  and  manu- 
facture of  silk,  282 

Cabbage    tree,  526;    palmetto,  526;    for 

forts,  wharves,  thatch,  etc.,  526;  skunk. 

544. 
Cabinet  work,  woods  suited  for,  11,  62, 

41,  79,  80,  103,  104,  107,  120,  197,  150, 

171.  188,  189,  311,  312,  318,  320,  321, 

323,  343,  347,  392,  460,  494,  499,  505, 

506,  507,  508,  509,  511,  590. 
Cactus,  66. 
Calabash,  65. 

Calamus,  an  aromatic,  545. 
Calico   printing,    plants    used    in,    406 ; 

bush,  381. 
Calomel,    substitute    for    (see   Deobstru- 

ents  and  Alteratives),  431,  487. 
Cake,  plants  yielding  oil,  67,  69,  73,  118, 

423. 
Cammelina.,  an  oil  plant,  67. 
Camphor,  plants  yielding,  199. 
Canada,    leatherwood,     350  ;    snakeroot, 

357 ;  balsam,  506. 
Canadian  collinsonia,  201,  208,  444. 
Cancer  root,  462,  463;  weed,  442. 
Candles,  to  harden,  66,  501;  from  myr- 
tle berries,  314;  for  war  times,  500. 
Cane,  and  reed,   587;    see   Chinese   and 

sugar-canes. 
Cantharis  vesic,  397;  to  collect,  398. 
Cantharides,  substitute  for,  16,  19,  28,  40, 

131,  176,  350,  510,  424;  to  prepare  from 

potato  fly,  397. 
Caoutchouc,   plant  producing,   120,   127, 

128,  417,  539;  to  prepare,  487  (Inuline), 

485. 
Capers,  75 ;  substitute  for,  18. 
Cardinal  flower,  404. 
Carmine  ink,  substitute  for,  367. 
Carminatives   (see  Aromatics),  416,  539, 

546. 
Carolina  potato,  397 ;  jalap,  397. 


Casks,  cider,  156 ;  material  for  caulking, 

545,  589. 
Cassia,  196. 
Cassina,  393. 

Castor  oil  plant,  mode  of  cultivation, 
expression  of  oil,  uses,  etc.,  112,  114, 
115;  self-hulling,  117;  stearine  from, 
118;  cake  for  manure,  118. 

Catechu  (seo  Astringents),  147,  438. 

Cataleptic  power  in  plant,  447,  483. 

Cathartic  bromus,  587. 

Cathartics,  substitute  for,  21,  29,  37,  65, 
66,  126.  129,  139,  173,  175,  195,  305, 
317,  358,  361,  370,  372,  376,  395,  396, 
397,  407,  408,  411,  428,  431,  449,  465, 

1  466,  467,  480,  484,  490,  523,  533,  565, 
582,  587. 

Catnip,  447 ;  cattail,  57,  544 ;  catweed, 
426;  catfoot,  427. 

Cattail,  as  a  substitute  for  cotton,  and  to 
stuff  mattresses,  544. 

Caulking,  material  for,  545. 

Caustic  properties,  plants  possessing  (see 
Escharotics),  16,  18,  582. 

Cedar,  507,  510  ;  oil  from,  510. 

Celery,  45. 

Cement  for  cisterns,  259. 

Centaury,  Am.  479. 

Chairs,  wood  suited  for  making,  41,  79, 
104,  257,  266,  311,  323,  589. 

Chamomile,  wild,  424;  substitute  for, 
424,  425,  60. 

Champagne,  substitute  for,  387. 

Charcoal,  qualities  of,  241,  339,  497; 
plants  yielding  for  gunpowder,  267, 
273,  339,  340,  362;  to  prepare,  339, 
498 ;  to  purify  water,  342 ;  to  clarify 
vinegar,  498. 

Cherokee  rose,  as  hedge  plant,  103. 

Cherry,  liquor  from,  161, 170;  birch,  265; 
cordial  and  syrup,  170,  171. 

Cheese,  plants  to  flavor,  176,  406. 

Chess,  dye  from,  587. 

Chestnut,  uses  of,  238. 

Chiccory,  cultivation  of,  and  admixture 
with  coffee,  uses  of,  431. 

Chickweed,  136,  347,  384. 

China  briar,  537;  grass,  272;  vegetable 
to  cement,  532. 

Chinese  tea  plant,  cultivation  and  prep- 
aration, 104. 

Chinese  sugar-cane,  sugar,  molasses,  and 
syrup  from,  to  manufacture,  value  of, 
567,  et  seq.;  vinegar,  paper,  and  coffee 
from,  576,  577. 

Chinquapin,  astringency  of,  237. 

Chloroform,  substitute  for,  44 ;  influence 
on  plants,  197. 

Cider,  manufacture  of,  150 ;  from  mul- 
berry, 305;  persimmon,  387. 

Cigars,  pis.  to  flavor,  410;  pectoral,  422. 

Circhonine  in  Georgia,  bark,  405;  sub- 
stitute for,  59. 


INDEX. 


Circulation,  plants  acting  on;   see  Seda 

tives. 
Cisterns,  cement  for,  259. 
Citric  acid,  mode  of  extracting,  108,  306, 
Cloth   from   fibre,   272;    plants  yielding, 
484,  488,  489;    to  render  water-proof, 
500;    from   mulberry,    307;    plants   to 
wash,  590. 
Clover,    rabbit-foot,    177;    buffalo,    177; 

yellow,  176;  red,  177;  white,  177. 
Club  rush,  589. 

Cob,  corn,  analysis  of,  550;  potash,  lye, 
and  soda,  soap  from,  551. 

Cochineal  insect,  66,  67. 

Cockle,  145. 

Cocoons,  method  of  treating,  280. 
Coffee,  405;  substitute  for,  91,  435;  from 
cotton  seed,  96;  substitute  suggested,' 
177,  407,  195,  196;  from  potato,  400; 
from  chiccory,  431 ;  Florida,  196;  from 
asparagus,  535;  from  acorns,  535;  from 
corn,  552;  from  Chinese  sugar-cane, 
577;  from  rice,  580;  from  wheat,  584. 

Cohosh,  19. 

Collinsonia,  445. 

Colocynth,  substitute  for,  200,  485. 

Colombo,  American,  480. 

Colt's-tail,  415. 

Concentrated  lye,  to  prepare,  259 ;  potash 
in,  327,  332  ;  from  corn,  551. 

Confederate  flax,  531. 

Conium,  substitute  for,  44. 

Consumption  weed,  418. 

Contrayerva,  substitute  for,  425. 

Copaiba,  substitute  for,  378. 

Copal  varnish,  plants  yielding,  208 ;  Co- 
palm  oil  and  resin,  344. 

Corn,  Indian,  oil,  sugar,  paper,  beer,  soda, 
soap,  potash,  bread,  etc.  from,  548,   et 
teq ;  cobs,  prod,  of,  549;  anal,  of,  560 
as    food   for  horses,    550 ;    soap   from 
shucks,  551;  Guinea  and  doura,  566 

Coral,  Indian,  538. 

Cordage,  plants  yielding,  350,  429,  435, 
103,  271,  273  ;  from  mulberry,  305 ;  wa- 
hoo,  311 ;  golden-rod,  417 ;  Indian  hemp, 
484;  spruce,  507;  from  bear  grass,  530. 

Cordial,  cherry  to  make,  171;  blackberry, 
143. 

Cork,  substitute  for,  347;  tree,  265. 

Cosmetic,  plant  used  as,  534. 

Cotton,  93 ;  fibre  in  surgery,  95 ;  subst. 
for  quinine,  95 ;  substitute  for  coffee, 
96,  544;  soap  from,  96,  100;  gun  cotton, 
96  ;  to  decorticate  seed,  97 ;  cotton  seed 
oil  and  cake,  97;  as  a  manure,  100; 
wooden  slats  for  baling,  259 ;  recent 
substitute  for,  547  ;  woody  fibre  unfitted 
for,  547 ;  microscop.  exam.  548. 

Counter  irritants,  see  Escharotics. 

Cow-pea,  194. 

Crab  apple,  149. 

Cranberry,  value,  cultivation,  and  preser- 
vation of,  383. 

Cranesbill,  138. 


Creosote,  from  pine,  498,  504. 

Creeping  cucumber,  65. 

Cress,  71 ;  see  Salad,  Virginian,  67. 

Croton  oil,  substitute  for,  28. 

Crow  foot,  13S. 

Cryptogamous  genera,  589. 

Cucumber,  tree,  38 ;  creeping,  65  ;  Indian, 

529. 
Culpepper,  extracts  from  Nicholas,  37. 
Cunilla,  445. 

Currants,  174;  wild,  168. 
Custard,  apple,  41. 
Cutworm,  to  prevent,  107. 
Cypress,  508,  509  ;  powder,  543. 
Cyperus,  jointed,  588. 


Daisy,  ox-eyed,  426. 

Dandelion,  429  ;  substitute  for  coffee,  ca- 
outchouc in,  430. 

Darnel,  bearded,  poisonous  to  wheat,  564. 

Deadly  nightshade,  468. 

Deafness,  plants  relieving,  444. 

Deer-grass,  57. 

Delirium,  caused  by  plants,  565. 

Demulcents,  native,  35,  76,  176,  310,  345, 
352,  390,  418,  436. 

Dentrifice,  vegetable,  368. 

Deobstruents,  145,  369,  429,  465,  528, 
540;  gee  Alteratives. 

Devil's  fig,  28;  wood,  493. 

Dewberry,  141. 

Diaphoretics,  446. 

Digitalis,  461;  substitute  for,  465,  441. 

Dill,  47. 

Discutients,  native,  78,  334,  537;  see  Es- 
charotics. 

Dittany,  445. 

Diuretics,  native,  39,  42,  43,  47,  64,  86, 
120,  144,  272,  347,  356,  359,  368,  371, 
377,  395,  403,  405,  408,  410,  415,  416, 
419,  428,  435,  444,  468,  470,  510,  523, 
530,  535,  542,  565. 

Dock,  368,  370. 

Dog's-tooth  violet,  530. 

Dog's-bane,  483,  484;  pi,  vomiting,  588. 

Dogwood,  59;  dog-fennel,  414;  tested  for 
tannin,  346:  to  tan  leather,  414. 

Dollar  plant,  193. 

Doura  corn,  566;  subst.  for  wheat,  567. 

Dragon's  blood,  370;  root,  540. 

Dried  fruit,  substitute  for,  65;  fig,  309. 

Drinks  from  native  plants  (see  Liquors), 
23,  157. 

Duckweed,  21,  548. 

Dwarf-nettle,  268;  milk-weed,  488;  pal- 
metto, 527. 

Dye  from  native  plants,  blue,  19,  131 
178,  179,  183,  189,  316,  372,  494,  523 
536;  green,  18,  21,  262,  494,  534,  587 
yellow,  16,  18,  21,  29,  52,  79,  103,  149 
146,  173,  175,  188,  233,  239,  271,  322 
371,  388,  389,  395,  406,  417,  419,  429j; 
red,  33,  178,  367,  406;  black,  55,  80 
122,  204,  210,  240,  316,  319,  386,  442 
484,  494,  310,  598;  scarlet,  60,  63,  79 


INDEX. 


Xlll 


cinnamon,  509,  267;  purple,  80,  178? 
262,379;  crimson,  367:  dove  color,  80; 
brown,  367;  drab,  21;  saffron,  173," 
in'oZet,  187;  olive,  262;  indelible,  367; 
for  bank  notes,  598;  </o/d,  308;  solfe- 
rino,  367;  straw,  444. 

Ebony,  substitute  for,  392. 

Edible,  psoralea,  177;  plants  (see  Salad), 

526,  529,  530,  536,  538,  542,  544,  599. 

578,  594. 
Eel  grass,  recent  subst.  for  cotton,  547. 
Elain,  plants  yielding,  547. 
Elder,  408;  spirits  from,  409. 
Elecampane  and  Inuline  in  native  pi.,  417. 
Elm,  slippery,  310. 
Eggs,  rearing  silk  worm,  291,  297. 
Emmenagogues,    native,  46,   47,   87,  94, 

371,  426,  444,  476,  527. 
Emetic,  holly,  393;  root,  401. 
Emetics,  native,  20,  29,  31,  42,  50,  57,  65, 

85,  126,  127,  139,   147,  175,  267,  350, 

365,  372,  401,  403,  407,  408,  411,  427, 

444,  447,  448,  450,  465,  467,  4S0,  483, 

484,  4S8,  489,  522,  528,  532,  533,  539. 
Emollient  plants;  see  Mucilaginous. 
Endive,  431;  substitute  for,  433. 
Engraving,  wood  for,  see  wood,  ink  for 

from  fuci,  598. 
Ergot,  cotton  seed  a  substitute,  94. 
Errhines,  358,  379,  38],  528. 
Escharotics,  native,  16,  17,  18,  19,  22,  31, 

33,  43,  74,  77,  79.  120,121, 128,  139,  168, 

201,  350,  366,  424,  471,  482,  486,  510, 

523,  536,  541,  582,  585. 
Essence  of  flowers  to  extract,  461. 
Evaporation,  singular,  in  sunflower,  422. 
Expectorants,  486. 
Experiments  with  nettle  (Urtica)  to  check 

bleeding,  269;  with  leaves  of  plants  for 

tannin,  346. 
Eye-bright,  128,  401. 

Eagine  from  beech,  235. 

False  acacia,  188. 

Fans  from  palmetto,  527. 

Farcle  berry,  384. 

Febrifuge ;  see  Antiperiodics  and  Quinine. 

Fecundation  in  plants,  166. 

Fennel,  46. 

Fermentation,  process  of,  158,  165,  234. 

Ferns,  589;  royal,  591. 

Fescue  grass,  value  for  swards,  586;  for 
materials  for  hats,  586. 

Fetid  plants,  544. 

Fever  root,  407;  bush,  354;  weed,  43. 

Fever  and  ague,  Dutch  remedy  for,  61. 

Fibre,  use  of  cotton  in  surgery,  95 ;  plants 
yielding  useful,  68,  88,  90,  91,  92,  94, 
272,  273,  274,  276,  417,  484,  489,  522, 
524,  531,  582;  substitute  for  cotton 
exam.,  547. 

Fibrine  in  plants,  41. 

Fig  tree,  308;  vinegar  from,  308;  molas- 
ses from,  309;  method  of  drying,  309, 


blue  and  red  color  from,  309,  310; 
devil's,  28. 

Fiorin,  for  wet  meadows,  563. 

Fir,  silver,  505,  506. 

Fish,  plants  stupefying,  84, 175,  464;  food 
for,  585. 

Fit  root,  378. 

Flag,  blue,  523  ;  as  a  diuretic  and  cathar- 
tic, 523  ;  sweet,  545. 

Flax,  cultivation  and  preparation  of,  oil 
from,  88;  subst.  for,  423,  582;  moun- 
tain, 85 ;  water,  548. 

Flea  bane,  415. 

Flesh,  antiseptics  for,  356. 

Flies,  plants  hostile  to,  see  Insects. 

Flowerless  plants,  589. 

Flowering  fern,  591. 

Flowers  to  collect  and  dry,  7;  oil  of,  to 
collect,  461,  466. 

Fly,  poison,  527;  trap,  examined,  53. 

Fodder,  prepare,  550. 

Food,  pi.  to  supply  dur'g  scarcity  of,  541. 

Formula}  for  native  pi.,  599. 

Forty  knot,  359. 

Foxglove,  465. 

Frankincense,  200,  506. 

Fringe  tree,  494. 

Frost  root,  415. 

Fuci,  iodine  and  kelp  to  man'f,  592,  593. 

Fuel,  excellent  material  for,  421. 

Fumitory,  33. 

Fungi,  subterranean,  599;  edible,  cultiva- 
tion, uses,  etc.,  594;  parasitical,  598. 

Gall  of  the  earth,  435. 

Gallic  acid  (see  Astringents),  20,  202,  203. 

Gamboge,  substitute  for,  29. 

Garlic,  531;  wild,  532. 

Gelseminine,  461. 

Gentian,  478;  subst.  for  hops,  387,  479, 
comp.  tr.,  546. 

Georgia  bark,  subst.  for  quinine,  404. 

Geranium,  138. 

Ginger,  substitute  for,  357. 

Ginseng,  48. 

Glasswort,  361. 

Glass,  vegetable  cement  for,  532;  plan  to 
make,  591. 

Glue,  substitute  for,  149,  150,  525. 

Gluten  from  wheat,  to  manufacture,  5S3; 
plant  yielding,  583. 

Goat's  rue,  187. 

Gold  of  pleasure,  as  an  oil  plant,  67. 

Golden,  cassia,  196;  granadilla,  23;  club, 
544;  rod,  416,  417;  seal,  18. 

Gourd,  65. 

Grape,  native,  cultivation,  wine  from,  213, 
etseq.;  rot  in,  218;  varieties,  229. 

Grasses,  best  varieties,  561,  et  seq. 

Grass,  eel,  recent  subst.  for  cotton,  547  ; 
best  cultivated  for  food  and  pasture, 
561,  et  seq.;  benzoic  acid  in,  561;  to 
procure  a  double  crop  562  ;  avoided  by 
animals,  563  ;  timothy,  565 ;  period  to 
cut,  565  ;  poisonous,  564;  sugar  in,  562; 


INDEX. 


couch,  561;  best  for  hay,  562;  to  pre- 
vent encroachment  of  water,  562;  lime, 
562;  Bermuda,  565  ;  vomiting  dogs,  565; 
Walter's,  581;  marsh,  582;  reed  bent, 
582;  true  blue,  585;  meadow,  585; 
fescue,  586 ;  Am.  orchard,  587 ;  nut 
grass,  588. 

Ground-nut,  194 ;  oil  from,  195,  423. 

Ground  cherry,  473. 

Guaiacum,  substitute  for,  111,  137. 

Guano,  substitute  for,  504. 

Guinea  corn,  value  of,  566 ;  brooms  from 
566. 

Gulver  root,  467. 

Gum,  resembling  honey,  418;  plants  exud 
ing,  466  ;  Arabic,  subst.  for,  149,  173, 
525;  sour,  347;  sweet,  344;  leaves  rec- 
ommended in  place  of  oak  bark  in 
tanning,  345  ;  black,  347. 

Gun,  powder,  native  wood  for  making,  61, 
267,  273,  338,  339,  362;  stocks,  wood 
for,  320,  323. 

Hsemastatic  virtues  of  nettle,  268 ;    see 

styptics. 
Hair  tonic,  vegetable,  17. 
Hardhack,  146. 
Harvest  drink,  166. 
Hats,  plants  for  making,  343,  526,  544, 

586. 
Hazel  nut,  234. 
Hay,  substitute  for,  and  securing  of,  551 ; 

best  grasses  for,  562,  586. 
Heal  all,  446. 
Heartsease,  76. 

Heat  evolved  by  plants,  541,  544. 
Hedges,  plants  for  making,  148,  172,  102, 

189,  195,  235,  508. 
Hedge  mustard,  71 ;  hyssop,  465. 
Hellebore,  white,  528. 
Hemlock,  spruce,  506  ;  American,  44. 
Hemp,  uses  of  to  plant,  272 ;   substitute 

for,  273,  417,  484,  531  (see,  also,  fibre); 

intoxicating,   273;    substitute   for,    67, 

91,  489  ;  beargrass  for,  530. 
Herbemont's  ever  bearing  mulberry,  304. 
Hercules'  club,  137. 
Hickory,  uses  of,  322;  as  a  dye,  322;  for 

potash,   in  making   soaps,   325 ;  bands 

for  baling  cotton,  325. 
Hides,  to  prepare  and  dress,  245,  et  seq. 
Hippo,  Carolina,  126,  127;  wild,  126. 
Hogs,  fat  of,  fed  on  beech,  235,  237;  mul- 
berry for,  304. 
Holly,  mucilage  and  bird  lime  in,  390, 

393. 
Honey,   plants   yielding   poisonous,    379, 

381,    418,    460;     locust,    195;     suckle, 

408 ;  dew  on  plants,  103,  276. 
Hoodwort,  446. 
Hoops  for  casks,  wood  for,  238,  323,  338, 

335 ;  set;  Wood. 
Hop,  uses  and  cultivation   of,  275,  277  ; 

substitute  for,  280,  421,  424;   formula 

for,  600. 


Horehound,  448  ;  in  catarrhs,  449 ;  water, 
449. 

Horse  chestnut,  84;  as  suitable  for  opium, 
used  in  place  of  soap,  and  for  produc- 
tion of  starch,  84;  horse  gentian,  horse 
mint,  443;  nettle,  470;  weed,  444; 
tails,  590. 

Hound'stongue,  439. 

Huckleberry,  384. 

Hydrocyanic  acid,  plants  yielding,  170, 
171,  173. 

Hydrophobia,  native  remedy  for,  446, 
447. 

Hygrometer,  rustic,  177,  136,  3S4,  590. 

Hyssop,  465. 

Indelible  ink,  from  plants,  201,  202,  368, 
441 ;  for  bank  notes,  598. 

Indian,  cucumber,  529  ;  mallows,  91  ; 
physic,  147 ;  tobacco,  401 ;  poke,  528 ; 
hemp  in  asthma,  484 ;  meal,  538 ;  coral, 
538 ;  turnips,  540 ;  corn,  oil  paper,  su- 
gar, bread,  soap,  soda,  potash,  etc., 
from,  548,  et  seq. ;  bread,  '599;  loaf, 
599 ;  millet,  566. 

Indigo,  method  of  extracting  blue  color 
from,  179;  wild,  175;  sowing  of  seeds, 
180  ;  to  obtain .  indigo  on  plantations, 
185;  for  family  use,  186;  indigo  vat, 
184;  bastard,  187;  substitute  for,  188, 
372  ;  see  Dyes. 

Infection,  plant  preservative  against,  546. 

Ink  berry,  390  ;  indelible,  368,  441,  201, 
202 ;  sympathetic,  308 ;  red,  carmine, 
367;  black,  309;  indestructible  for  bank 
notes,  598. 

Insects,  plants  noxious  to,  409,  414,  426, 
466,  107,  362,  532  ;  on  cotton  plant,  96  ; 
on  orange,  109;  to  relieve  bite,  401; 
powder  to  destroy,  362. 

Instinct  in  trees,  460. 

Intoxication,  plants  inducing,  425,  564 ; 
ee  Liquors. 

Inuline,  curious  properties  of,  417. 

Iodine,  in  plants  to  manufacture,  592. 

Ipecacuanha,  substitute  for,  29,  120,  147, 
358 ;  wild,  126,  407,  485. 

Iris.  523. 

Irish  potato,  starch  from,  471. 

Iron  wood,  233,  3S5. 

Irritability  in  plants,  197,  460,  35. 

Itch,  weed,  382,  528;  plants  applied  to 
relief  of  itch  and  mange,  382,  527. 

Ivy  bush,  381. 

Jalap,  397;  substitute  for,  407,  "396,  397; 
wild,  21 ;  formula  for,  600,  601. 

Jamestown  weed,  474. 

Jerusalem  oak,  361,  363;  artichoke,  417, 
420 ;  as  food,  substitute  for  potato,  cul- 
tivation, for  pickles  and  starch,  420  ; 
potash  in,  421. 

Jessamine,  sedative  and  poisonous  prop- 
erties of,  461 ;  substitute  for  digitalis, 
461 ;  in  yellow  fever,  461. 


INDEX. 


XV 


Jewel  weed,  139. 
Jointed  Gyperus,  588. 
Judas  tree,  197. 
Juniper,  to  season  liquors,  162;  formula, 
599. 

Kalmia,  381. 

Kelp,  plants  yielding,  133,  134;  to  man- 
ufacture, 593. 
Kino,  see  Catechu. 
Knot  grass,  372  ;  weed,  444. 
Kyanizing  wood,  method  of,  503. 

Lady's  slipper,  425. 

Lampblack,  from  turpentine,  497. 

Larkspur,  19. 

Laudanum,  (see  Opium)  subst.  for,  275. 

Laurel,  swamp,  36. 

Laxatives,  see  Cathartics. 

Leather,  to  tan,  (see  Tannin)  202, 203,  204, 
208,  242,  146 ;  tanning  on  plantations, 
249,  et  seq.;  experiments  with  leaves  of 
gum  and  myrtle,  and  dog  fennel,  345, 
414 ;  substitute  for,  349  ;  preparation  to 
preserve,  497 ;  to  make  water-proof, 
500;  wood,  350. 

Leaves,  to  dry,  7 ;  influence  of  ohloroform 
on,  197 ;  to  be  collected  for  cavalry 
horses,  563. 

Lee,  Dr.  Daniel,  method  of  tanning  leath- 
er, 245. 

Lemon,  to  procure  citric  acid  from,  107; 
oil  from,  108. 

Leptandrine,  468. 

Lettuce,  43  ;  wild,  435. 

Lichens,  589. 

Life-everlasting,  426. 

Light,  influence  on  leaves,  198. 

Lily,  water,  35 ;  of  the  valley,  533. 

Lime  tree,  tea  from,  and  cordage,  103. 

Lime,  phosphate  of,  in  plants,  544. 

Linseed  oil,  uses  of,  89 ;  substitute  for, 
423 ;  see,  also,  Oils. 

Liquorice,  substitute  for,  49,  51 ;  cultiva- 
tion and  preparation  of,  49;  wild,  51. 

Liquors,  from  fruit,  42,  48,  23,  156,  157, 
142,  162,  189,  195,  266,  305,  386,409; 
to  prepare,  157,  162,  166;  to  flavor, 
380  ;  to  strengthen,  425. 

Liriodendrine,  in  fever,  40. 

Liver,  wort,  17 ;  plants  acting  on  (see  De- 
obstruents  and  Alteratives),  413,  42S, 
429,  465. 

Live  oak,  263. 

Live  fences,  102;  (see  Hedges). 

Lizard's  tail,  334. 

Lobelia,  401 ;  as  a  relaxant,  402. 

Lobelic  acid,  402. 

Locust  tree,  yellow,  188;  honey,  195; 
clammy,  193 ;  cultivation  of  for  ship 
building,  190. 

Long  moss,  524. 

Love  apple,  vine,  395. 

Lucerne,  176. 

Lungwort,  464. 


Lupulin,  275. 

Lye,  concentrated,  to  make,  259;  to  ex- 
tract from  ashes,  and  to  use  in  soap 
making,  261,  327,  332;  see  Potash  and 
Soda. 

Machine    for    rasping    arrow-root,    513; 

making  sugar,  572,  et  seq. 
Madder,  import.,  cultiv.,  and  uses  of  as  a 

dye  plant,  406 ;  subst.  for,  407. 
Madeira  nut,  for  oil  and  oil  cake,  321. 
Mad  dog  skullcap,  446. 
Maiden  hair,  591. 
Magnolia,  36,  38,  39. 
Mahogany,  87;  substitute   for,  171,321; 

mountain,  265. 
Maize,  oil,  sugar,  beer,  potash,  soda,  bread, 

paper  from,  548,  et  seq. 
Malaria,  plants  neutralizing,  56;  harrier 

against,  422;  influence  of  pine  on  422; 

see,  also,  Antiperiodics. 
Malate  of  lime,  167. 

Malic  acid,  150;  plants  yielding  and  pre- 
paration of,  167. 
Mallows,  90,  91. 
Mandrake,  21. 
Mangle,  55. 

Manna,  subst.  for,  565,  585;  croup,  585. 
Maple,  red,  79;  sugar,  mode  of  ext'g,  80. 
Maritime  scirpus,  589. 
Marcet's  exp.  on  sensibility  in  plants,  197, 

198. 
Marsh,  club  rush,  589;  mallow,  90;  rose- 
mary, 437 ;  grass,  582. 
Mate,  or  Paraguay  tea,  394. 
Mattresses,  material  for,  237,  489,  524,  525, 

544. 
Maryland  cunilla,  445. 
May-apple,    vinegar    from,   21,  77,   577; 

weed,  424. 
Meadow  garlic,  for  pickling,   and  subst. 

for  garlic,  531;  grass,  585. 
Meal,  white  and  red,  538,  541;  hygienic 

bread  from  corn,  549;  pi.  poisoning,  564. 
Meat,  plants  to  preserve,  42,  552;  subst. 

for,  195. 
Meekweed,  467. 
Medeola,  Virginian,  529. 
Melilot  clover,  176. 
Methylene,  plants  yielding,  380. 
Mezereon,  substitute  for,  350. 
Milfoil  mint,  424. 
Milk,    subst.    for,    64;    to    coagulate,   see 

Rennet;    sickness,    remedy    for,    148; 

vetch,  177. 
Mississippi  nut,  333. 
Mistletoe,  63. 
Mitchella,  404. 
Mock  moccason,  425. 
Molasses,  subst.  for,  64;  plants  yielding, 

309  ;  from  Ch.  sugar-cane,  567,  et  seq. 
Monarda,  443. 
Moonseed,  376. 
Moss,  long,  in  stuffing  beds,  cushions,  etc., 

524. 


INDEX. 


Mosses,  589. 

Motherwort,  448. 

Moth  mullein,  464. 

Mountain,  ash,  167,  168;  berry,  380  ;  flax, 
85;  laurel  for  engraving,  380;  mahog- 
any, 265  ;  sumach,  207. 

Mouse  ear,  414. 

Moxa,  prep,  from  cotton,  96 ;  from  sun- 
flowers, 422. 

Mucilaginous  plants,  native,  56,  66,  90, 
91,  140,  149,  176,  310,  332,  345,  390, 
391,  405,  418,  439,  451,  463,  466,  502, 
534,  537,  565,  589. 

Mucuna,  substitute  for,  234. 

Mulberry,  to  feed  silk  worms,  280 ;  ever- 
bearing, 304;  propagation  of,  283;  syrup 
from,  305;  paper  from,  305;  French, 
449. 

Mullein,  463;  moth,  464. 

Murrain,  to  relieve,  20. 

Mushroom,  edible,  to  select,  594 ;  to  prop- 
agate, 595 ;  plan  in  S.  C,  597 ;  anti- 
dote to  poisonous,  597. 

Muskmelon,  64. 

Musk,  substitute  for,  533. 

Musical  instruments,  wood  for  making, 
312. 

Mustard,  72 ;  cult,  and  prep,  of,  73. 

Myope,  rice  diet  upon,  579. 

Myrtle,  sea,  418  ;  wax  from,  312 ;  leaves 
for  tanning,  313,  345;  for  soap  and 
eandles,  314 ;  to  make,  315 ;  leaves  in 
place  of  oak  bark  in  tanning,  345. 

Narcotics,  native,  18,  23,  31,  44,  129,  350, 
380,  382,  383,  401,  40S,  410,  426,  435, 
437,  439,  448,  461,  463,  469,  474,  481, 
4S3,  494,  525,  528,  532,  564. 

Nausea,  to  allay,  416;  nauseants,  see 
Emetics. 

Nearsightedness,  influence  of  food  upon, 
579. 

Neckweed,  467. 

Nettle,  dwarf,  268  ;  hsernastatic  virtues  of, 
269;  stinging,  119;  red,  270  ;  leaf  ver- 
vain, 450. 

New  Jersey  tea  tree,  an  astringent,  and 
subst.  for  foreign  tea,  109;  cider,  151. 

Nightshade,  468. 

Nine  bark,  147. 

Nitrate  of  potash,  plants  yielding,  363,340. 

Nitre,  plants  yielding,  326,  340,  376,  428; 
to  prepare,  340  ;  see  Potash. 

Nonesuch,  176. 

Nut,  oil,  to  procure,  234 ;  grass,  588. 

Oak,  bark,  to  collect  for  tanning,  240,  et 
seq,-  white,  257;  black,  238;  red,  263; 
quercitron,  238;  balls,  238?'of  Jerusa- 
lem, 361,  363;  Spanish,  256;  poison, 
200  ;  live,  263  ;  scrub,  potash  in,  504. 

Oat,  5S3. 

Oil,  nut,  317:  to  procure,  234;  olive,  cult. 
and  prep,  of,  490;  nature  and  mode  of 
extracting,  457;  to  clarify,  457,  461 ;  of 


flowers  to  extract,  460,  461 ;  press,  455 ; 
volatile,  416 ;  to  extract,  459,  481,  485  ; 
for  food,  422,  453,  490  ;  essential,  533, 
380  ;  blue,  425,  440,  445 ;  from  cotton 
seed,  494;  aromatic,  199,  200,  351,  507, 
510,  363,  416 ;  to  cultivate,  440 ;  to  ex- 
tract, 459 ;  styptic,  415,  416 ;  painter's 
234;  from  beech,  237;  for  soaps,  457; 
for  burning,  etc.,  24,  63,  67,  72,  78,  94, 
122,  135,  188,  194,  235,'  273,  313,  322, 
422  ;  amount  yielded  by  different  seeds, 
453;  subst.  for  olive,  24,  29,  63,  74, 194, 
234,  235,  422,  451;  subst.  for  castor,  29, 
111,  451  :  cake,  67,  73,  88,  94,  118,  124, 
322,  422,  423 ;  peculiar  volatile,  546 ; 
from  corn,  553;  poisonous  from  darnel, 
564. 

Okra,  91;  substitute  for,  76. 

Old  man's  beard,  494. 

Olive  oil,  subst.  for,  24,  29,  63,  74,  490 ; 
European;  to  cultivate  and  extract  oil, 
etc.,  490. 

Ooze,  to  prepare  in  tanning,  256. 

Onion,  tree,  531 ;  subst.  for,  532. 

Opium,  poppy  (see  Narcotics),  23,  27;  cul- 
ture, 28;  gum,  to  collect  and  prepare. 
25,  27;  subst.  for,  29,  84,  18,  147,  275J 
276. 

Orach,  361. 

Orange  and  lime  in  Florida,  107;  essence 
and  wine  from,  10S. 

Orange  root,  18;  wild,  171;  Osage,  102; 
grass,  79. 

Orchard  grass,  587. 

Orchis,  524. 

Origanum,  443. 

Osage  orange,  as  hedge  plant,  101;  as  dye 
stuff,  103. 

Osier  willow,  for  baskets,  335  ;  to  culti- 
vate and  dress,  336. 

Oxalate  of  potash,  140,  369. 

Oxalic  acid  in  plants,  369. 

Ox-eyed  daisy,  426. 

Packing,  material  for,  545. 

Palma  Christi,  uses,  cultivation,  and  ex- 
pression of  oil  from,  112. 

Palmetto,  526 ;  saw,  for  mattresses,  pil- 
lows, hats,  525;  potash  in,  526:  for 
wharves,  dates  from,  526;  dwarf,  fans 
from,  527. 

Painters,  oil  for,  to  procure,  234,  273. 

Panicum,  spiked,  565. 

Papaw,  influence  on  meat,  41. 

Paper,  native  material  for  making,  16,  70, 
93,  545  ;  from  cotton  plant,  96  ;  from 
mulberry,  305,  307 ;  from  sunflower, 
443 ;  from  agave,  522 ;  Chinese  paper 
from  typha,  545;  from  corn  leaves,  558; 
from  sugar-cane,  573. 

Parmentier,  on  conversion  of  starch  from 
roots  into  food,  542. 

Parsley,  45. 

Parilla,  376. 

Partridge  berry,  380,  405. 


INDEX. 


Passion  flower,  77. 

Pea,  194. 

Peach,  173;  to  dry,  aphides  on,  173. 

Pear,  149,  166;  to  store,  149;  to  make 
productive,  166. 

Pecan  nut,  333. 

Pennyroyal,  446. 

Pepper,  468;  grass,  67;  mint,  440. 

Persimmon,  tannin  in,  385 ;  beer  from, 
387;  vinegar  and  syrup  from,  3S8,  577. 

Perspiration  extraordinary  in  plants,  422. 

Peruvian  bark,  substitute  for,  59,  88. 

Perry,  to  prepare,  149. 

Peterwort,  78. 

Pbasnogamous  species,  15. 

Picromar,  504. 

Pillows  (see  Mattresses). 

Pimpernel,  384,  468. 

Pindar,  oil  from,  194. 

Pine,  long  leaved,  varied  uses  of,  turpen- 
tine, pj'roligneous  acid  from,  etc.,  495  ; 
influence  on  ozone,  malaria,  495  ;  pitch 
pine,  uses  of  tar  from,  504,  505 ;  white, 
505;  Spanish  gum,  uses  of,  505;  north- 
ern, 505  ;  substitute  for,  506;  weed,  79  ; 
"Walter's  pine,  substitute  for  northern, 
506;  mucilaginous,  506;  Weymouth, 
export  of,  505. 

Piuk  root,  481. 

Pipes,  material  for,  537. 

Pipe  stems,  plants  furnishing,  130,  310, 
379. 

Pipsissewa,  377  ;  diuretic  tonic,  378. 

Piquette,  to  manufacture,  159. 

Plane  stocks,  materials  for,  150  (see  Cabi- 
net work). 

Plantain,  436  ;  water,  536. 

Plants  (see  Wood),  to  collect  and  dry,  5  ; 
for  cabinet  purposes,  11;  easily  pro- 
curable, medicinal,  8,  412 ;  for  wood 
engraving,  11,  59,  168;  soft  woods,  13; 
luminous  property  in,  55  ;  intox.  fish 
84;  yielding  thread  (see  "Fibre"),  ma- 
terial for  paper,  16,  70,  93,  274,  305; 
potash  in,  see  "Potash;"  oil  from,  see 
"Oil;"  sugar  in,  321,  81,318;  yield 
ing  liquors,  159,  161;  see  "Liquors;" 
for  tanning,  see  "Tanning;"  yielding 
charcoal,  see  "Charcoal;"  see  "Poison- 
ous Plants,"  discovery  of  new  medici- 
nal, 529,  563;  evolving  heat,  541,  544; 
list  of  those  avoided  by  animals,  563  ; 
yielding  gluten,  483. 

Pleurisy  root,  substitute  for  antimony  and 
calomel,  485. 

Poisonous  plants,  380,  382,  383,  3S4,  404, 

460,  469,  476,  485,  527,  528,  564. 
Poison,  ash,  494  ;  oak,  200  ;  sumach,  206 
Pokeweed,  365 ;  crimson,  dye  from,  367  ; 

potash  from,  366;  to  color  wine,  366 
Pomegranate,  58. 
Pond  lily,  35;  spice,  355. 
Poppy,   opium,  23,  28 ;  preparation  and 
cultivation  of,  27 ;  Mexican,  28 ;  prick- 
ly, 28. 


Potash,  binox.  of,  140,  369 ;  plants  yield- 
ing, 34,  47,  80,  84,  526>  359,  360,  421, 
423,  473,  236  ;  to  extract,  260,  325,  360  ; 
to  prepare,  326,  328 ;  from  weeds,  328, 
421,  504;  nitrate  of,  363,  376,  590,  from 
fuci,  594. 

Potato,  sweet,  397;  coffee  from,  400 ;  starch 
from,  400;  blistering  flies  on,  400;  to 
cleanse  silk,  400,  472;  Irish,  starch 
from,  471 ;  yam,  a  substitute  for,  539. 

Prickly,  ash,  136,  137 ;  pear,  to  harden 
tallow,  66  ;  poppy,  28. 

Pride  of  India,  106;  as  vermifuge,  and 
for  cabinet  purposes,  107. 

Printing  blocks,  material  for,  122 ;  see 
wood  engraving,  150,  168. 

Prussic  acid,  plants  yielding,  170,  171, 
172. 

Puccoon,  30;  formulas  for,  599,  601. 

Purgatives,  plants  supplying,  see  Cathar- 
tics. 

Pyroligneous  acid  from  pine,  498;  vinegar 
from,  498. 

Pumpkin,  64. 

Pupil,  plants  dilating,  470,  476. 

Purslane,  131. 

Putty  root,  substitute  for  gum  arabio,  525, 

Quass,  manufacture,  164. 
Quassia,  137. 
Queen's  delight,  121. 
Quercitron,  239  ;  oak,  239. 
Quinine  (see  Antiperiod.),  substitute  for, 
•S3S,  334,  372,  405,  412. 

Rabbit-foot  clover,  177. 

Radish,  water,  71. 

Rag  weed,  419  ;  root,  429. 

Raspberry,  wild,  144. 

Rattlesnake's  master,  50,  522 ;  plants  hos- 
tile to,  494. 

Reed  mace,  544;  burr,  545. 

Red-bird  salad,  197  ;  chickweed,  384;  clo- 
ver, 177. 

Refrigerants,  139,  140,  368,  369,  383,  437, 
534,  536. 

Reeling  of  silk,  300. 

Rennet,  plant  acting  as,  77, 131,  139,  406, 
482. 

Rhubarb,  substitute  for,  368,  370,  396, 
480 ;  culture  of,  in  Confederate  States, 
373;  preparation  of  roots,  374. 

Rhus,  antidote  for,  201. 

Ribwort,  437. 

Rice,  Carolina,  uses  of,  effect  in  producing 
myope,  578;  starch  from,  578;  bread 
from,  580 ;  substitute  for  coffee,  580. 

Roots,  to  dry,  7;  furnishing  starch  and 
food,  541,  542,  544. 

Rope,  wahoo,  for  baling  cotton,  311; 
material  for,  350. 

Rose,  460,  461 ;  water  to  prepare,  460 ;  oil 
to  prepare,  461;  acacia,  189;  rose- 
mary, 437. 

Rosaries,  seeds  for  making,  130. 


XV1U 


INDEX. 


Rosin  from  pine,  497 ;  from  cypress,  509. 

Rouge,  substitute  for,  439. 

Royal  fern,  591. 

Rubefacients  (see  Escharotics),  17,  31,  33, 

74. 
Rue,  Turkey,  187. 
Rush,  white,  582. 
Rye,  substitute  for  coffee,  5S4. 

Saccharine  matter  in  grasses,  225;    see, 

also,  Wine  and  Sugar. 
Sage,  442  ;  cultivation  of,  443. 
Sago  from  potato,  397 ;  from  arum,  543. 
Salad,  substitute  for,  56,  57,  67,  72,  73, 

131,  136,  276,  369,  430,  529,  544. 
Saliein,  335. 
Salivation  caused  by  plants,  128, 136,  137, 

177,  410,  436,  447,  486;  plants  arrest- 
ing, 420 ;  see  Alteratives. 
Saliva,  plants  tinging,  436. 
Salt,  economy  in,  332,  503. 
Saltwort,  359;  yielding  soda,  SCO;  marsh 

grass,  582. 
Sap   of  tree?,   liquors  from,   163;    sugar 

from,  318,  321. 
Saponine,  132. 
Sampson's  snakeroot,  478. 
Sand-paper,  substitute  for,  415. 
Sanguinaria,  599. 
Sanicle,  42. 
Sarsaparilla,  51,  132,  376;  substitute  for, 

460,  537. 
Sassafras,  350;  substitute  for  gum  arabic, 

351,  352;  beer  from,  353. 
Savin,  substitute  for,  510. 
Saw  palmetto  for  mattresses  and  hats,  525. 
Scabish,  55. 
Scarlet  pimpernel,  3S4. 
Scouring  rush,  582. 
Skullcap,  446. 
Sea  myrtle,  418;  grape,  376;  orach,  361  : 

weed,   soda,  iodine,   and  potash   from, 

593;  as  manure,  594. 
Sedatives,  plants  acting  as,  19,  20,  30,  44. 

47,  5S,  103,  169,  172,  173,  382,  383,  401, 

441.  465,  469,  525.  528,  535. 
Seneka  snakeroot,  85. 
Senna,  wild,  195. 
Sensibility  in  plants,  197. 
Sensitive  plant,  197. 
Serpentaria,  355,  357. 
Service  tree,  161,  168;  drink  from,  162. 
Side-saddle  flower,  53. 
Silk,  making  of,  280 ;  rearing  of  worms  and 

processes,  281,e/  xeq.;  substitute  for,  489. 
Silkweed  for  cloth,  thread,  cushions,  etc., 

489;  cultivation  of,  489. 
Silica  in  plants,  415,  590. 
Silver  fir,  506. 
Simpler's  joy,  450. 
Sisal  hemp,  to  cultivate  and  prepare,  58  : 

to  cleanse,  rot,  the  fibre,  519,  et  seq. 
Skunk  cabbage,  544. 
Sheep   laurel,    381;    sorrel,    308;    plants 

poisonous  to,  379. 


Ship  building,  timber  for,  188,  189,  236, 
263,  505,  507;  see  wood  for  cabinet 
work. 

Shoe  wax,  to  make,  206;  wooden  shoes, 
343.  348. 

Shrub,  199. 

Shucks,  soap,  paper,  soda,  manufactures 
from,  551,  et  seq.;  yarn  from,  561. 

Smart-weed,370. 

Smilacine,  538. 

Smith,  Dr.  J.  L.  on  crystal,  sugar,  570. 

Smut  caused  by  barberry,  52 ;  to  prevent, 
598. 

Snake-head,  465;  plantain,  437;  weed,  44; 
root,  43,  85,  355,  357,  358;  Sampson's 
snakeroot,  478:  black  snakeroot,  19. 

Snuff,  plants  to  flavor,  546. 

Soapwort,  132. 

Soap,  plants  furnishing,  69,  83,  84,  96, 107, 
132,  325,  423 ;  soft,  to  make,  134,  332, 
hard,  259.  331 ;  to  make  with  lye,  261, 
316;  economical,  262,  331,  332;  from 
myrtle  berries,  314 ;  from  resin  without 
grease,  501 ;  from  corn  shucks,  551, 
561;  plants  acting  as,  590;  from  sea- 
weed, 593. 

Soda,  plants  yielding,  133,  359,  551 ;  to 
manufacture,  133,  134,  360;  from  kelp, 
590,  593. 

Soft  rush,  537. 

Solanina,  469,  471,  472. 

Solferino,  color,  367. 

Solomon's  seal,  534. 

Sorghum  and  sorgho  suere,  sugar  and 
syrup  from,  to  manufacture,  567,  et  seq. ; 
mill  for,  568. 

Sorrel,  3H8,  374. 

Sour  wood,  379  ;  gum,  347. 

Sow  thistle,  436. 

Soup,  plant  to  make,  195,  585. 

Sparterie,  for  baskets,  343. 

Spearmint,  440. 

Speedwell,  466. 

Spice  bush,  354. 

Spicy  wintergreen,  3S0. 

Spiders,  to  relieve  sting  of,  401. 

Spigeline,  4S2. 

Spikenard,  American,  51. 

Spinach,  substitute  for,  136. 

Spirits,  from  plants  (see  Liquors). 

Spotted  wintergreen,  377. 

Spruce,  505 ;  bemlock,  for  tanning,  506 ; 
black,  507  ;  essence  of,  507;  white,  507; 
beer,  279. 

Spurge,  128. 

Spurry,  135  ;  to  improve  soils,  561. 

Squaw  root,  462. 

St.  John's  wort,  78. 

Staggers,  plant  causing,  522. 

Starch,  plants  yielding,  53,  84,  524,  537; 
from  potato,  397,  400,  422;  to  extract 
and  prepare,  516 ;  by  fermentation, 
517;  to  wash  and  pack  for  sale,  518, 
534,  536,  539;  from  Indian  turnip,  541, 
from  roots,  to  be  converted  into  bread. 


INDEX. 


542 ;  from  corn,  553 ;   from  rice,  578  ; 
from  wheat,  to  manufacture,  584. 

Star-flower,  532 ;  grass,  532,  533. 

Stearine,  plant  yielding,  122,  124. 

Steeple  bush,  146. 

Sternutatories,  native   31,  483,  358,  533. 

Stitchweed,  136. 

Stimulants,  plants  yielding,  85,  427,  542, 
543. 
"  Stomachics,  native,  39,  479.  480,  532. 

Stramonium,  474. 

Strawberry,  144. 

Styptic  weed,  130,  196,  424;  styptics, 
424,  426. 

Sugar-cane,  577,  570  ;  et  seq.;  paper  and 
syrup  from,  573  ;  wax  from,  578. 

Sugar  maple,  80 ;  to  extract  sugar  from, 
81. 

Sugar,  to  manufacture,  81,  567;  et  seq.; 
berry,  312;  plants  producing,  79,  80, 
92,  539 ;  to  clarify  with  vegetable  albu- 
men, 92 ;  from  sap  of  walnut,  318, 
321  ;  from  beet,  375;  from  sap  of  trees, 
318,  321,  396;  from  potato,  400;  from 
silkweed,  488  ;  to  prepare  and  manufac- 
ture from  corn,  553 ;  Naudain  and 
Webb's  method,  553,  558;  large  amount 
in  lime  grass,  562  ;  Chinese  sugar,  mo- 
lasses, and  syrup  from,  to  manufacture, 
567;  et  seq.;  mill  for,  268;  antiseptic 
power  of,  569;  to  crystallize,  570,  577. 

Sumachs,  201,  202,  204,  206,  207;  anti- 
dote to  poisoning  by,  201,  273,  450, 
541;  cultivation  of  for  tannin,  209;  and 
for  calico  printing  in  Sicily,  209. 

Sun,  dew,  73  ;  flower,  extraordinary  evap- 
oration in,  oil,  cigars  from,  cultivation 
of,  422  ;  paper  from,  423 ;  potassa  and 
oil  from,  423. 

Swallowwort,  488. 

Swamp  laurel,  36  ;  dogwood,  62. 

Sweet,  birch,  265,  380  ;  gum,  for  tanning, 
344;  leaf,  388,  3S9;  shrub,  199;  potato, 
397. 

Syrup,  of  wild  cherry,  171  ;  astringent, 
388  ;  to  manufacture  from  Ch.  sugar- 
cane, 567,  et  seq.,  591. 

Tallow  tree,  122;  candles  and  soap  to  ob- 
tain from  it,  123. 

Tannin,  plants  yielding  (see  Astringents); 
to  extract,  209,  210,  379,  380,  415,  438, 
445,  591 ;  leaves  tested  for,  345 ;  (see 
Khus,  Quercus,  and  Liquidambar). 

Tanning  leather,  plants  for,  146, 201  to  211, 
240,  243,  267,  316,  345,  384,  494,  546; 
method  described  by  Dr.  Lee,  245  ;  easy 
method  on  plantations,  249 ;  method 
from  So.  Cultivator,  255  ;  leaves  sug- 
gested to  be  used  in,  345  ;  dogfennel 
and  gum  for,  346. 

Tansy,  425. 

Tanya,  indelible  dye  from,  367. 

Tar  water,  504. 

Taraxacum,  uses  of,  428. 


Tare,  194. 

Tea,  antispasmodic  from  Tilia,  103,  525; 
Chinese  tea  plant,  cult,  and  subst.  for, 
104,  140,  144,  380,  389,  390,  391,  393, 
417,  482;  New  Jersey  tea  tree,  109; 
demulcent  and  aromatic,  352,  354;  flavor 
of  green  tea,  523 ;  blade,  553. 

Telegraph  poles,  wood  for,  510. 

Terebene  and  turpentine,  501. 

Textile  plants,  see  '<  Fibre." 

Thatch,  pi.  for,  590. 

Thirst,  plants  allaying,  379. 

Thistles,  436. 

Thorn-apple,  28,  474,  477. 

Thoroughwort,  410,  413. 

Thread  from  pi.  (see  Fibre),  88,  272,  489. 

Thyme,  444. 

Tickweed,  446. 

Tilleul,  subst.  for  soothing  tea  from,  103. 

Timber,  best  time  to  fell,  241 ;  to  season, 
258;  relative  strength  of,  258;  density 
of,  264;  effect  of  soil  and  season  upon 
263;  selection  of,  264;  height  of,  264. 

Timothy  grass,  peculiarity  of  seed,  566. 

Titi,  for  pipe  stems,  130. 

Tobacco,  473;  subst.  for,  29,  62,  358;  to 
flavor,  410,  439,  473,  546. 

Tomato,  472. 

Tonics,  native,  18,  21,  33,  36,  39,  54,  61, 
63,  136,  138,  146,  169,  344,  356,  376, 
377,  389,  390,  413,  415,  427,  428,  435, 
445,  448,  466,  478,  480,  524,  527,  532, 
546. 

Tool  handles,  wood  for,  see  "Cabinet,"  235. 

Toothache,  remedy  for,  447;  bush,  50, 136, 
137. 

Torchwood,  200. 

Touch-me-not,  139. 

Traveller's  joy,  16. 

Trees,  height,  strength,  etc.;  see  "Timber." 

Trefoil,  177. 

Tripterella,  blue,  523. 

True  blue  grass,  value  in  enriching  lands, 
585. 

Trumpet  flower,  460. 

Tuckahoe,  599. 

Tulip  tree,  39;  poplar,  39. 

Tupelo,  347  ;  for  making  utensils,  shoes, 
etc.,  348. 

Turkey  pea,  187. 

Turmeric,  IS. 

Turnsole,  438. 

Turpentine,  extraction,  uses,  etc.,  495, 
499;  soap  from,  496;  effects  upon  sys- 
tem, 499;  to  render  leather  and  cloth 
water-proof,  500;  terebene  from,  501; 
as  a  burning  fluid,  501. 

Twine,  material  for,  531 ;  (see  Cordage). 

Twin-leaf,  21. 

Ultramarine  blue  from  plants,  536. 
Umbrella  tree,  38;    wood  for  handles  of, 

235. 
Unicorn  root,  532. 
Uterus,  influence  of  cotton  seed  on,  94. 


XX 


INDEX. 


Valerian,  substitute  for,  525. 

Vanilla,  substitute  for,  173;  wild,  410. 

Varnishes,  pl.yielding,  200,  202,  207,  208. 

Vegetable  stearine,  125;  wax,  313;  see  Oil. 

Veneering,  material  for,  16,  79,  80. 

Venus  fly-trap,  35. 

Veratrum  viride  and  ver^atria,  528;  mode 

of  using  as  a  sedative,  529. 
Vermifuges,  native,  22,  39,  41,  48,  106, 

132,  234,  280,  361,  363,  404,  449,  466, 

481,  507,  510,  588,  590. 
Veronica,  467. 
Vervain,  450. 

Vesicants;  see  Escharotics. 
Vetch,  194. 
Violet,    common,    75;    hand-leaved,    76; 

dog's-tooth,  530. 
Vinegar,  native  material  for  (see  Sumach), 

64,   150,308;    from  honey,  308;    from 

fig,  308;    from  beet,  374;    persimmon, 

388;  from  pyroligneous  aeid,  498;  from 

Chinese  sugar-cane,  576. 
Vine,   grape,   213;    wine  from,  to  make, 

214,  et  seq. 
Virgin's  bower,  16. 
Virginian   veronica,    407;    lycopus,    441; 

cress,  67;  swallowwort,  488;  silk,  488; 

medeola,  529. 
Vitality  in  plants,  395. 
Volatile  oil,  peculiar,  546. 
Vomiting,  plants  allaying,  440,  444,  527. 

Wake  robin,  540. 

Walnut,  317,  318;  sugar  and  oil  from, 
318;  leaves  as  alterative,  319  ;  for  gun 
stocks,  320;  Persian,  321. 

Wahoo,  311;  rope  and  cordage  from,  311. 

Walter's  pine,  506;  grass,  581. 

Washing,  economical  mode  of,  261. 

Water-proof  material,  89;  to  purify,  342; 
chickweed,  347;  cress,  71 ;  fescue,  587; 
flax-seed,  548 ;  horehound,  440 ;  lily, 
35  ;  melon,  64 ;  pepper,  370  ;  radish, 
witch-hazel,  to  detect,  59;  plantain, 
536 ;  grass  to  prevent  encroachment 
of,  562. 

Wax,  insect,  122;  to  obtain  from  myrtle, 
313;  nature  of,  313;  myrtle,  312;  from 
sugar-cane,  578. 

Weeds,  as  manure,  and  to  prevent  spread 
of,  564;  alkaline  salts  in,  504. 

Weeping  willow,  343. 

Weymouth  pine,  uses  of,  505. 

Wheat,  gluten,  and  starch  from,  583;  sub- 
stitute for,  235,  567;  from  doura  corn, 
567;  bitters,  587;  smut  in,  598;  poi- 
soned, 564. 

White,  hellebore,  312,  523  ;  substitute  for, 
67;  ash,  494;  cedar,  509  ;  beech,  235; 
avens,  145  ;  oak,  baling  for  cotton,  25S  ; 
and  strength  of  fibre,  258  ;  weed,  420  ; 
wood,  39;  poplar,  343;  spruce,  507; 
rush,  582. 


Whortleberry,  384. 

Wild  chamomile,  424;  carrot,  48;  cherry, 
169;  syrup  of,  170,  179;  coffee,  196; 
currant,  168;  endive,  431;  ginger,  357; 
rose-bay,  380 ;  horehound,  413;  hippo, 
126;  indigo,  173,  178;  ipecac,  127; 
jalap,  21 ;  lettuce,  435  ;  lemon,  21;  liq- 
uorice, 51;  orange,  171;  potato  vine, 
396;  raspberry,  144;  radish,  72;  sarsa- 
parilla,  51 ;  senna,  195 ;  strawberry, 
144;  yam,  334;  vanilla,  410;  garlic, 
532 ;  yam,  539. 

Willow,  334;  osier,  335;  purple,  335;  for 
baskets,  336  ;  to  cultivate,  336  ;  red,  62. 

Wine,  from  native  grape,  to  manufacture, 
213,  el  seq.;  cellars  for,  213 ;  Prof.  Jack- 
son's plan  of  making  wine,  214;  from 
grape  leaves,  219;  Hume's  method,  222; 
in  California,  225  ;  red,  228  ;  fermenta- 
tion, 165,232,234;  from  orange,  108; 
blackberry,  to  make,  141,  142 ;  from 
sap  of  birch,  268  ;  to  color,  366. 

Wing-rib  sumach,  207. 

Winterberry,  389;  green,  377,  380. 

Witch-hazel,  58;  in  detecting  water,  59 ; 
alder. 

Wood,  substitute  for,  as  dye  wood,  417. 

Woodbine,  408;  anemone,  16;  sorrel,  139, 
140. . 

Wood,  native,  for  engraving,  11,  62,  122, 
150,  168,  233,  266,  381,  386,  392,  508; 
soft  and  hard,  12,  62,  233,  358,  382,  384, 
493,  235,  266,  507;  for  cabinet  and 
manufacturing  purposes,  11,  62,  79,  80, 
103,  104,  107,  150,  171,  188,  189,  120, 
233,  235,  236,  237,  238,  257,  266,  306, 
310,  311,  312,  318,  320,  323,  343,  392, 
460,  494,  499,  505,  506,  507,  511; 
strength  of  fibre  of,  257,  263  ;  dye  from, 
16,  18,  21, 182,  240  (see  Dyes)  ;  relative 
density  of  wood,  263,  507,  511 ;  influ- 
ence of  soil  upon,  263 ;  for  fuel,  421  ; 
duration  impregnated  with  sulphate  of 
copper,  and  method,  502,  511;  to  pre- 
serve by  chemical  agencies,  503;  for 
ship  building,  505,  507,  511;  for  gun- 
stocks,  320. 

Wormseed,  361. 

Wormwood,  for  supply  of  potash,  364. 

Woorari,  from  plant,  483. 

Xanthoxylin,  137. 

Yam  root,  wild,  to  cult,  and  store,  539. 

Yarrow,  wild,  424. 

Yaupon,  tea  from,  393. 

Yellow  grass,  533;  clover,  176;  lady's 
slipper,  525  ;  locust  tree,  188  ;  moccason, 
525,  parilla,  376;' root,  18,  21;  star 
thistle,  28  ;  star  grass,  533  ;  sarsaparilla, 
376,460. 


INDEX 


BOTANICAL  NAMES  OF  GENERA  AND  SPECIES. 


Abies  balsamea,  506. 

"      Canadensis,  506. 

"     Nigra,  507. 

"      Alba,  507. 
Abutilon  Avicennse,  91. 
Acalypha  Virginica,  120. 
Acer  rubrum,  79. 

"     saccharinum,  80. 
Achillea  millefolium,  424. 
Achyranthes  repens,  359. 
Aconitum  uncinatum,  441. 
Acorus  calamus,  545. 
Actsea  racemosa,  19. 
Adiantum,  590. 

"  pedatum,  591. 

iEsculus  pavia,  84. 
Agave  Virginica,  522. 
"      Sisalina,  518. 
"      pulque,  522. 
Agaricus  cainpestrls,  594. 
Agrimonia    eupatoria,   145, 

271. 
Agrostis  stolonifera,  563. 
"         perennaris,  581. 
Aletris  farinosa,  532.  ' 

"       aurea,  533. 
Algse,  592. 
Allium  Canadense,  531. 

"        Carolinianum,  532. 
Alisma  plantago,  536. 

■*       trivialis,  536. 
"        parviflora,  536. 
Alnus  serrulata,  266,  377. 
Amaryllis  atamasco,  522. 
Ambrosia  trifida,  420. 

"  artemisifolia,  419 

Amelanchier,  161,  162,  168. 
Aniianthum  muscaHoxicum, 

527. 
Ammi  majus,  45. 
Amophila  arenaria,  582. 
Amorpha  frutieosa,  187. 
Amphicavpa  monoica,  194. 
Amygdalus,  173. 
Amyris  Floridana,  200. 
Anagallis  arvensis,  384. 


Anchusa  tinctoria,  126. 
Andromeda  angustif.,  379. 
"  arborea,  379. 

"  coriacca,  379. 

"  mariana,  379. 

"  nitida,  379. 

"  speciosa,  379. 

Anemone  nemorosa,  16. 

"         hepatica,  17. 
Anethum  foeniculum,  47. 
Angelica  lucida,  46. 
Anona  triloba,  41. 
Anthemis,  424. 
Anthoxanthum    odoratum, 

354,  356. 
Antennaria    Margaritacea, 

426. 
Apium  graveolens,  45. 

"       petroselinum,  45. 
Apocynum  cannabinum,483 
"  androsEemif.,484 

"  pubescens,  483. 

Arcbangelica,  46. 
Aracbis  hypogea,  194. 
Aralia  spinosa,  50. 
"       nudicaulis,  51. 
u       racemosa,  51. 
Argemone  Mexicana,  28. 
Arissema  atroreubens,  540. 
Aristolochia  serpent.,  355. 
"  hastata,  357. 

"  sipho,  357. 

Arnipa  nudicaulis,  426. 

"       montana,  427. 
Aroniabotryapium,  161, 16S 
Artemisia  eaudata,  362. 
Arrhenatherum,  586. 
Arundo  arenaria,  582. 
Arundinaria  a'igantea,  587. 
"  macrosper.,587 

Arum  niaculaturn,  542. 
"      triphyllum,  540. 
"      Virginicum,  542. 
I  Asarum  Virginicum,  358. 
"        Canadense,  357. 
I        "        arii'olium,  358. 


Asclepias  decumbens,  485. 

"         incarnata,  48.S. 

"         verticillata,  488. 

"         tuberosa,  4S5. 

"         cornuti,  488. 

"         Syriaca,  488. 
Ascyrum  Crux-Andrese,  78. 

"  multicaule,  78. 

Asimina  triloba,  41. 
Asparagus  officinalis,  535. 
Aster  tortifolius,  414. 
"      cordifolium,  415. 
"      linarifolius,  415. 
Atriplex  laciniata,  361. 
Atropa  physaloides,  473. 
Avena  sativa,  583. 

Bacebaris  halimifolia,  418. 
Baptisia  bracteata,  175. 

"         leucophasa,  175. 

"        tinctoria,  175. 
Batschia  canescens,  33. 
Benzoin  odoriferum,352,354 
Berberis  Canadensis,  51. 

"         vulgaris,  51. 
Beta  vulgaris,  374. 
Betula  nigra,  266. 

"        lenta,  265,  380. 
Bignonia,  capreolata,  460. 

"  catalpa,  460. 

u  crucigera,  460. 

Bletia  verecunda,  524. 

"       aphylla,  424. 
Bcehmeria  nivea,  272. 
Brassica  oleracea,  454. 

"         campestris,  454. 
Broussonetia  papyrif.,  307. 
Bromus  secalinus,  587. 
"         purgaus,  587. 
Bumelia  lycioides,  3S5. 
Bursera  gummifera,  200. 
Buxus  sempcrvirens,  111. 

Cactus  cochinilifer,  67. 

"        opuntia,  66. 
Calamagrostis,  582. 


XXI 1 


INDEX. 


Callicarpa  Americana,  449. 
Callitriche  verna,  347. 

"  heterophyl.,  347 

Caltha  palustris,  18. 
Calycanthus  Floridus,  199. 
Camelina  sativa,  cultivation 

of,  67. 
Canella  alba,  131. 
Cannabis  sativa,  273. 
"        Indica,  273. 
Canna  flacida,  536. 
Capparis  spinosa,  75. 

"         Jamaicensis,  75. 
"         cynophalloph.,  75 
Caprifolium,  408. 
Capsella  bursa-pastoris,  70. 
Capsicum  annuum,  468. 
Carex  acuta,  589,  544. 
Carpinus,  (see  Ostrya)  233. 
Carya  amara,  322. 

"       olivfeforniis,  333. 

"       porcina,  322. 

"      alba,  322. 

"      myristicia3formis,333 
Cassia  occidentalis,  196. 

"        Caroliniana,  196. 

"        ehamtecrista,  196. 

"       hirsuta,  196. 

"        Marylandica,  195. 

"       tora,  197. 
Castanea  pumila,  237. 

"        vesca,  238. 
Catalpa  cordifolia,  460. 
Ceanothus  Americanus,  109 
Celtis  occidentalis,  312. 
Centaurea  benedicta,  427. 
Cephalanthus  Occident., 405 
Cerasus  serotina,  169. 

"        Caroliniana,  171. 
Cercis  Canadensis,  197. 
Cicuta  maculata,  44. 

"       virosa,  45. 
Cimicifuga  racemosa,  19. 
Citrus  aurantium,  107. 
Chamselirium  Carolin.,427. 
Chamajrops   palmetto,  526. 
"  serrulata,  512, 

525. 
Chelone  glabra,  465. 
Chenopodium  anthelminti- 

cum,  361,  359. 

Chenopodium  ambros.,  363. 

"  alb.,  359,364. 

"  botrys,  363. 

Chimaphila  maculata,  377. 

"  umbellata,378. 

Cbionanthus  Virginica,494. 

Cliironia,    (see    Centaurea) 

479. 
Chrysanthemum  leucanthe- 

muiii,  426. 
Cichorium  intybus,  431. 
Citrus  aurantium,  107. 

"       limonium,  107,   109. 
Citrullus,  64. 


Cladrastis  tinctoria,  175. 
Clematis  crispa,  15. 
"         viorna,  16. 
"         Virginiana,  16. 
Clethra  tomentosa,  379. 

"       alnifolia,  379. 
Cliftonia  ligustrina,  130. 
Clusia  flava,  130. 
"       rosea,  130. 
Cnicus,  (see  Centaurea)  427. 
Coccoloba  urifera,  376. 

"  Floridana,  376. 

Coffea  Arabica,  405. 
Collinsonia  Canadens.,  201, 

208,  444. 
Collinsonia  anisata,  445. 
"  scabra,  445. 

Commelina  communis,  536. 
Convalaria  multiflora,  534. 
"  biflora,  534. 

"  majallis,  534. 

"  polygonat.,  534 

Convolvulus  macror.,  396. 
"  batatas,  397. 

'•  Jalapa,  397. 

"  pandurat.,396. 

Cornus  Florida,  59. 
"        sericea,  62. 
"        san  guinea,  63. 
"       stricta,  63. 
Corylus,  rostrata,  234. 

"         Americana,  234. 
Corypha  palmetto,  426. 
Crataegus  crus-galli,  148. 

"         cordata,  148. 
Croton  balsamiferum,  111. 

"      maratimum,  111. 
Ctenium  American,  585. 
Cucumis  citrullus,  64. 
"        pepo,  64. 
"       melo,  65. 
"       sativus,  65. 
Cucurbita  lagenaria,  65. 
Cunilla  mariana,  445. 
Cupressus  disticha,  508. 
"  thyoides,  509. 

Cuscuta  Americana,  395. 
"       compacta,  395. 
"       cornuti,  395. 
"       vulgivaga,  395. 
Cynara  scolymus,  428. 
Cynoglossum  Virginic.,439. 
"  officinale,439. 

"  amplex.,  439. 

Cyperus  articulatus,  588. 
"        vireus,  58S. 
"        odoratus,  588. 
"        hydra,  588. 
Cypripcdum  pubescens,425. 
Cyrilla  racemiflora,  130. 

Dactylis  glomerata,  5S7. 
Dasystoma  pubescens,  466. 
Datura  stramonum,  474. 
"       tatula,  474. 


Daucus  carota,  47. 
"       pusilus,  48. 
Delphinium  consolida,  19. 
Diervilla  trifida,  408. 

"         canadensis,  408. 
Digitaria  dactylon,  565. 
Digitalis  purpurea,  465. 
Dilatris  tinctoria,  522. 
Dionoea  muscipula,  35. 
Dioscorea  battatas,  539. 

"  villosa,  539. 

"  sativa,  540. 

"  alata,  540. 

Diospyros  Virginiana,  335. 
Diplopappus  linarif.  415. 
Dirca  palustris,  350. 
Discopleura  capillacea,  45. 
Dracocephalum   variega- 

tum,  447. 
Dracocephalum   Virgini- 

anum,  448. 
Dosera  rotundifolium,  77. 

Echites  difformis,  482. 
Eclipta  ereeta,  420. 

"       procumbens,  420. 
Eleocharis  palustris,  589. 
Elymus  arenarius,  562. 
Epiphagus  Americana,  462. 
Equisetum  lsevigatum,  590. 
"  hiemale,  590. 

"  arvense,  590. 

Erigeron  annuum,  416. 

"         eanadense.415,416 
"        Philadelphic.,415. 
"        pusilum,  416. 
"         strigosum,  415. 
Eryngium  aquaticum,  43. 
•  "  yuccaefolium,  43. 

"  foetidum,  43. 

"  aromaticum,  43. 

Erythronium  Americ,  530. 

';  lanceol.  530. 

Erysimum,  71. 
Eugenia,  199. 

Euonymus  Americanus,129. 
"  atropurpur.  129. 

Eupatorium  perfoliat.  410. 
Eupatorium  purpur.  412. 
Eupatorium  rotundif.  413. 
Eupatorium  teucrif.  413. 
Eupatorium  verbenas.  413. 
Eupatorium  foeniculaceum, 

345,  414. 
Euphorbia  annua,  129. 
Euphorbia  corollata,  126. 
Euphorbia  helioscopea,  129. 
Euphorbia  hypericif.  128. 
Euphorbia  ipecacuan.  127. 
Euphorbia  maculata,  128. 
"  thymifolia,  129. 

Fagus  sylvatica,  235. 
"      Americana,  235. 
"      feruginea,  246. 


INDEX. 


XX111 


Festuca,  585. 

"        duriuscula,  586. 
Ficus  carica,  308. 
Filices,  589. 

Foeniculum  officinale,  46. 
Fosteronia  diflbrmis,  482. 
Fragaria  vesca,  144. 

"        Virginiana,  144. 
Frasera  Walteri,  480. 

"        Caroliniensis,  480. 
Fraxinus  acuminata,  494. 

"        Americana,  494. 
Fuci,  593. 
Fucus  serratus,  592. 

'*  vesiculosus,  592. 
Fumaria  officinalis,  34. 
Fungi,  594. 

Galium  trifidum,  406. 
"       hispidulum,  406. 
"       tinctorium,  406. 
jSaultheria  procumb.  380. 
Gelseminum  sempervi.  461. 
Gentiana  catesbaei,  478. 
"        ochroleuca,  479. 
"        lutea,  386,  479. 
"        purpur.  386,  479. 
"        Elliot tii,  478. 
"         saponaria,  479. 
"         quinqueflora,  479. 
Geranium  maculatum,  138. 
Gerardia  flava,  466. 
Geum  Virginianum,  145. 
"      Carolinianum,  145. 
Gillenia  tomentosa,  146. 
"        trifoliata,  147. 
"        stipulacea.  148. 
Glyceria  fluitans,  585. 

'"'         tomentosa,  187. 
Gnaphalium  margaritace- 

um,  426. 
Gnaphalium  polycepb.  426. 
Gonolobus  macrophyl.  485. 
Gossypium  herbaceum,  93. 
Gratiola  officinalis,  465. 
"         aurea,  466. 
"        Virginica,  465. 
Gyromia  Virginica,  529. 

Hamamelis  Virginica,  58. 
Hedeoma  pulegioides,  446. 
Hedyotis,  407. 
Helianthus  tuberosus,  417, 

420. 
Helianthus  annuus,  422. 
Heliotropium  indicum,  438. 
Helonias  dioica,  527. 

"        erythrosper.,  527. 
Helosciadium,  45. 
Hepatica,  triloba,  17. 
Heuchera  Americana,  200. 
Hibiscus  moscheutos,  91. 

"        esculentis,  91. 
Hieracium  gronovii,  442. 
Hippomane  mancinella,120. 


Holcus  odoratns,  561. 

"       sorghum,  566. 

"       lanatus,  586. 
Hopea  tinctoria,  388. 
Houstonia,  407. 
Humulus  lupulus,  275. 
Hydrastis  canadensis,  18. 
Hydrolea  quadrivalvis,  400. 
Hydrocotyle  umbellata,  42. 
Hypericum  sarothra,  79. 
"  perforatum,  78. 

Ilex  cassina,  393. 
"    vomitoria,  393. 
"    opaca,  390. 
"    dahoon,  395, 
"    myrtifolia,  395. 
Illicium  Floridanum,  39. 
"        parviflorum,  39, 
Impatiens  pallida,  139. 

"  noli  me  tan.,  139. 

Indigophera  Carolin.,  178. 
"  argentea,  179. 

"  anil,  178. 

"  tinctoria,  181. 

Inula  helenium,  417. 
Ipomoea  nil,  396. 

"        panduratus,  396. 
Iris  Virginica,  524. 
"     versicolor,  523. 
Isatis  tinctoria,  179. 

Jatropha  stimulosa,119,578, 
Jeffersonia  diphylla,  21. 
Juglans  cinerea,  317. 

"        nigra,  318. 

"        regia,  321. 
Juncus  effusus,  537. 

"        communis,  537. 
Juniperus  Virginiana,  510 
Jussiosa  grandiflora,  57. 

Kalmia  latifolia,  381. 
"        angustifolia,  353. 
"        hirsuta,  382. 

Lachnanthes  tinctoria,  522. 
Lactuca  elongata,  435. 

"         longifolia,  435. 
Laurus  sassafras,  350. 

"       benzoin,  352,  354. 

"       geniculata,  355. 
Leersia  oryzoides,  581. 
Lemna  polyrhiza,  548. 
Leontodon  tarax.,  428. 
Leonurus  cardiaca,  448. 
Lepidium  Virginicum,  67. 
Leptandra,  467. 
Leucanthemum  vulgare,  426 
Liatris  spicata,  410. 

"       scai-iosa,  410. 

"       squamosa,  410. 

"       odoratissima,  410 
Limnetis,  582. 
Linum  usitatissimum,  88 


Liquidambar  styracif.,  344. 
Liriodendron  tulipifera,  39. 
Lithospermum  canescens,33 
"  arvense,  439. 

Lobelia  inflata,  401. 
"       syphilitica,  403. 
"       cardinalis,  404. 
Lolium  temulentum,  564. 
Lonicera  sempervirens,  408 

diervilla,  408. 

caprifolium,  408. 
Lycopus  Europeus,  440. 

angustifolius,  440. 

sinuatus,  440. 

Virginicus,  441. 
Ludwigia  alternifolia,  57. 
Lycoperdon  solidum,  599. 

Maclura  auruntiaca,  101. 
Magnolia  glauca,  36. 

"        acuminata,  38. 

"        grandiflora,  38. 

"         macrophylla,  39. 

"        tripetata,  38. 

«        umbrella,  38. 
Malva  rotundifolia,  90. 

"      sylvestris,  90. 
Maranta  aruudinacia,  511. 
Marubium  vulgare,  448. 
Maranta  cotula,  424. 
Medeola  Virginica,  529. 
Medicago  lupulina,  176. 
Melanthium  Virginic,  527. 
Melia  azedarach,  106. 
Melilotus  officinalis,  176. 
Melissa  officinalis,  440. 
Melothria  pendula,  65. 
Menispermum  Ganad.,  376. 
Mentha  tenuis,  440. 

"       piperita,  440. 
Mercurialis  annua,  129. 
Mimosa  sensitiva,  197. 
Mitchella  repens,  405. 
Monarda  punctata,  443. 
Monocera  aromatica,  585. 
Monotropa  uniflora,  378. 
Morus  alba,  280. 

"      multicaulis,  284. 
"      rubra,  305. 
Mylocarium,  130. 
Myrica  Carolinensis,  316. 
"       cerifera,  312. 

Nabalus  Fraseri,  435. 
Nepeta  cataria,  447. 
Nicotiana  tabacum,  473. 
Nymphasa  odorata,  35. 
Nyssa  aquatica,  347. 

OEnothera  biennis,  55. 
Oldenlandia,  407. 
Olea  Europea,  490. 
Olea  Americana,  493. 
Opuntia  vulgaris,  66. 
Orchis,  524. 


XXIV 


INDEX. 


Orobanehe  Virginiana,  462. 
"  Amer.,  462,  463. 

"  uniflora,  462. 

Orontium  aquaticum,  544. 
Oryza  sativa,  578. 
Osmunda  regalis,  591. 
Ostrya  Virginica,  233. 

"       carpinus,  233. 
Oxalis  acetosella,  139. 

"      violacea,  140. 

"      acetosella,  139. 

"      corniculata,  140. 

"      furcata,  140. 
Oxycoccus,  383. 

Panax  quinquefolium,  48. 
Pancratium  maratim.,  522. 
"  Carolinian.  522 

Panicum  dactylon,  565. 
"        Italicum,  565. 
Passiflora  lutea,  77. 

"  incarnata,  77. 

Papaver  somnifer.,  23,  25. 

"  "         alba,  25 

Peltandra  Virginica,  542. 
Phleum  pratense,  565. 
Physalis  viscosa,  473. 
*'         obscura,  473. 
"         pubescens,  473. 
Phytolacca  decandra,  365. 
Pinckneya  pubens,  404. 
Pinus  nigra,  505. 
"      australis,  495. 
"      glabra,  506. 
"      balsarnea,  506. 
"      balsamifera.  506. 
"      canadensis,  506. 
"      palustris,  495,  504. 
"      rigida,  504. 
"'      strobus,  505. 
"      tasda,  506. 
Piscidia  erythrina,  175. 
Pisuui  sativum,  194. 
Plantago  major,  436. 

"        lanceolata,  437. 
Poa,  585. 
"     compressa,  585. 
"     pratensis,  585. 
Podophyllum  peltatum,  21, 

601. 
Polygala  senega,  85. 
"         paucifolia,  87. 
"        polygama,  87. 
"         sanguinea,  87. 
Polygonum  punctatum,  370. 
"  aviculare,  372. 

"  convolvul.,  373. 

"  fagopyrum,  373 

"  hydropiper.  370 

"  polygama,  372. 

"  parvifolia,  372. 

"  scandens,  373. 

"  tinctorium,  179 

"  hydropiper,  370 

Polygonatum  biflorum,  534. 


Polygonatum  pubesc,  534. 
"  multiflo.,  534. 

Populus  alba,  343. 

"        heteroph.,  344,  413 
Portulacea  oleracea,  131. 
Potentilla  canadensis,  140. 

reptans?  140. 
Prenanthes  alba,  435. 
Prinos  verticillatus,  389. 

"       glaber,  390. 
Prunella  vulgaris,  446. 
Prunus  Virginiana,  169. 

"       Caroliniana,  171. 
Psoralea  esculenta,  177. 
Pteris  aquilina,  590. 
Pterocaulon  pycnost.,  419. 
Puccinia,  598. 
Punica  granatum,  58. 
Pyrethrum,  362. 
Pyrola  maculata,  377. 

"       umbellata,  378. 

"       rotundifolia,  378. 
Pyrus  coronaria,  149. 

"      malus,  149. 

"       cydonia,  149. 

"      Americana,  167, 168. 

Quercus  tinctoria,  238. 

"  alba,  287. 

"  falcata,  239,256. 

"  montana,  263. 

"  prinos,  264. 

"  rubra,  262. 

"  virens,  263. 

"  suber,  264. 

Ranunculus  sceleratus,  18. 
"  repens,  19. 

"  phragmites,  16. 

Rheum  palmatum,  373. 

"       emodii,  373. 
Rhexia,  glabella,  57. 
Rhizophora  mangle,  55. 
Rhododendron  maxim.,  380 
"  pimctat.  3S1 

Rhus    toxicodendron,    200; 

see  Sumach,  for  antidote, 

201,  273. 
Rhus  coriaria,  209. 

"      copallina,  207. 

"      glabra,  202. 

"      pumila,  20S. 

"      radicans,  200. 

"      typnina,  203,  208. 

"      vernix,  206. 

"      venenata,  206. 
Rhyncosia  tomentosa,  193. 
Ricinus  communis,  111. 
Robinia  pseudacacia,  188. 
"        viscosa,  193. 
"         hispida,  189. 
Rubia  tinctorium,  406. 
Rubia  Brownii,  406. 
Rubus  villosus,  140. 

"       occideutalis,  144. 


Rubus  trivialis,  141. 
Ruellia,  strepens,  462. 
Rumex  crispus,  368. 

"         acetosella,  368.       . 

"        Britannicus,  370. 

"        sanguineus,  370. 

"        acetosa,  369. 

"        obtusifolius,  370. 

"        divaricatus,  370. 

Sabal  adansonii,  527. 

"     pumila,  527. 
Sabbatia  angularis,  479. 

"  gracilis,  480. 

"  stellaris,  480. 

Saccharum  officinarum,577. 
Sagittaria  sagittif.,  57,  536. 

"  latifolia,  536. 

Salicornia  herbacea,361,594 
Salix  nigra,  334. 

"     viminalis,  337. 

"     caprea,  336. 

"     purpurea,  335. 

"    triandra,  336. 

"     alba,  334. 

"    nigra,  187. 

"    babilonica,  343. 
Salsola  soda,  133,  359. 

"        kali,  133,  359. 

"         Caroliniana,  133. 
Salvia  lyrata,  442. 

"       officinalis,  442. 
Sambucus  canaden.,  30,408. 
Samolus  valerandi,  385. 
Sanguinaria  canadensis,  30, 

599,  601. 
Sanicula  Marylandica,  42. 
Sapindus  marginatus,  83, 

133. 
Saponaria  officinalis,  132. 
Sarracenia  variolaris,  53. 

"  flava,  53. 

Sarothra,  79. 
Sassafras  officinale,  350. 
Saururus  cernuus,  334. 
Schoenolerion  Michauxii, 

532. 
Schrankia  uncinata,  197. 

"  angustata,  197. 

Schubertia,  508. 
Scirpus  maritimus,  588. 
"       macrostachyus,588. 
"       palustris,  589. 
Scrofularia  Marylandica, 

465. 
Scrofularia  nodosa,  465. 
Scutellaria  integrifolia,  447 
"  lateriflora,  446. 

Senecio  aureus,  426. 
Sesamum  Indicum,  450. 
"         orientale,  450. 
Shepardia  magnoides,  174. 
Sida  abutilon,  91. 
Silene  Virginica,  131. 
Simaruba  glauca,  137. 


INDEX. 


XXV 


Sinapis  nigra,  72. 
Sisymbrium  amphibium,72. 
"  nasturtium,  71. 

Sium  nodiflorum,  45. 
Smilax  sarsaparilla,  538. 
"        caduca,  538. 
"        glauca,  538. 
"        herbacea,  539. 
"        ovata,  539. 
"        pseudochina,  537. 
"        tamnoides,  539. 
Solarium  Virginianum,  471. 

"        lycopersicum,  472. 

"         Carolinense,  470. 

"        mammosum,  470. 

"         dulcamara,  470. 

"         nigrum,  468. 

"        tuberosum,  471. 
Solidago  odora,  416. 

"         sempervirens,  417. 

"        canadensis,  417. 

"         procera,  417. 
Sonchus  oleraceus,  436. 
Sorghum  vulgare,  567. 

"        saccharatum,  567. 
Sorbus  Americana.  168. 

"      aucuparia,  168. 

"      microcarpa,  167. 
Spartina  glabra,  582. 

"  juncea,  582. 
Sparganium  ramosum,  545. 
"  Americanum,545. 
Spergula  arvensis,  135,  561. 
Spigelia  Marylandica,  481. 
Spiraea  trifoliata,  146. 

"      opulifolia,  147. 

"      stipulacea,  146. 

"      tomentosa,  146. 
Spirodelia  polyrhiga,  548. 
Stapbylea  trifolia,  130. 
Statice  limonium,  360,  437. 

"     Caroliniana,  361,437. 
Stellaria  media,  136. 
Stillingia  sylvatica,  121. 

"  sebifera,  122. 

Styrax,  389. 


Swietenia  mahogoni,  87. 
Symplocarpus  foetidus,  544. 
Symplocas  tinctoria,  389. 

Tanacetum  vulgare,  425. 
Taraxacum  densleonis,  428. 
Tepbrosia  Virginiana,  187. 
Thea  viridis,  104. 
Thlaspium  bursapastoris,70 
Thuja  occidentalis,  507. 
Thymus  vulgaris,  444. 
Tilia  glabra,  103. 
"     Americana,  103. 
"    Europea,  103. 
Tillandsia  usneoides,  524. 
Tricodium  perennans,  581. 
Trifolium  pratense,  177. 

"        arvense,  177. 

"        reflexum,  177. 

"        repens,  177. 
Trillium  sessile,  530. 
Triosteum  perfoliatum,  407. 

"      angustifolium,  407. 
Tripterella  ccerulea,  523. 
Triticum,  583. 

"  repens,  561. 

Typha  latifolia,  57,  544. 

Ulmus  fulva,  310. 

"       alata,  311. 

"       Americana,  311. 
Uredo  segetum,  598. 

"       fetida,  598. 
Urtica  urens,  268. 

"       nivea,  272. 

"       dioica,  270. 

"       pumila,  273. 
Utricularia  inflata,  577. 
Uvaria  triloba,  41. 
Uvularia  perfoliate,  534. 
"         sessiliflora,  535. 

Vaccinium  arboreum,  168, 

384. 
Vaccinium  macrocarp.,  383, 


|  Valeriana  scandens,  462. 
"         pauciflora,  462. 
Veratrum  viride,  528. 

"         parvifolium,  529. 
"         album,  528. 
"         angustif.,  529. 
Verbascum  thapsus,  463. 
"  blattaria,  464. 

"  lychnites,  464. 

Verbena  urticifolia,  208,450. 
"      aubletia,  450. 
"      hastata,  450. 
Verbesina  Virginica,  419. 
Vernonia  angustifolia,  409. 
Veronica  officinalis,  466. 
"        anagallis,  468. 
"        peregrina,  467. 
"        Virginica,  467. 
Vicia  sativa,  194. 
Vitis,  213,  et  seq. 
"     bipinnata,  212. 
"     labrusca,  aestivalis, 
etc.  214,  et  aeq. 
Viola  tricolor,  76. 
"      arvensis,  75. 
"      cucullata,  76. 
"      palmata,  76. 
"      pedata,  75. 
Virgilia  lutea,  175. 
Viscum  verticillatum,  63. 

Xanthium  strumarium,  419. 
Xanthorrhiza  apiifolia,  21. 
Xanthoxylum  American.  136 

"     Carolinianum,   137. 

"     clavaHerculis,  136. 

"     fraxineum,  136. 

"     ramiflorum,  136. 

"     tricarpum,  137. 

Yucca  filamentosa,  350. 

Zamia  integrifolia,  512. 
Zea  mays,  548. 
Zizania  aquatica,  580. 
Zostera  marina,  547. 


WORKS  CONSULTED,  AND  ABBREVIATIONS   USED. 


WORKS.  ■      ■  ABBREVIATIONS. 

Catalogue   Plantarum   Angliso,  cum  Observationibus  et 

Experimentis  Novis  Medicis  et  Physicis.     Londini,  1667.  ^      Cat.  Plantaruiii. 
Auct.  Johannes  Ray. 

English    Physician.     By    Nicholas    Culpepper,    gent., 

'■'Student,    in     Physic    and   Astrology."    "An    Asirologo-  [-      Culp.  Eng.  Phys. 
Physiological  Discourse  on  Vulgar  Herbs,"  etc. 

Bulliard,  Histoire  des  Plantcs  Veneneuses  de  la  Prance,  I       Bull.    Plantes   Ven. 

4  vols.     Paris,  1774.  ■        •  j  de  Prance. 

Hortus  Americanus.     By  Dr.  Barham.  Bar.  Hort.  Amer. 

Linnaeus,  Vegetable   Mat.  Medica.     Translated    by   C.  I       T  .        wo'-  «   i/i 
,„,  ..,           '        °                                                                     ■'■■}.      Linn.  Veg.  M.  Med. 

Whitlaw.  J  ° 

Demonstrations  Elementaire  de  Botanique.    Containing  "l 

elem.,  veg.,  phys.  properties,  and  uses   of  plants.     With  -^ ,       ■*,-:,        ,    „    , 

.     •    ?.,/■  •        a  /  ,  ,  t     ■  Y      Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot. 

much    information    concerning    the   vegetable    veterinary 

practice,  etc.     By  J.  Gillibert,  Lyons,  1  787.  J 

Plantaa  Rarinres  Hibernia  Inventse,  etc.    With  Remarks  ) 

on  the  Properties  and  Uses.     By  Walter  Wade,  M.  D.  M.  >      Wade's  PL  Rariores. 

L.  S.     Dublin,  1804.  J- 

Le  Medecin  Herboriste.     Paris,  1802.  Le'Med.  Herb. 

New  Med.  Discoveries,  2  vols.     London,  1829.     By  C.  1       AVhitlaw'sNewMed. 

Whitlaw.  (  j  Disc. 

Am.  Herbal,  or   Materia  Medica.     With  New  Medical  )     V,.  ,  .       TI     ,    , 

t\-  t>     o      '    i   oj.  t  t    r>     w  i     i      iom  r     b teams  Am.  Herbal. 

Discoveries.     By  bamuel  Stearns,  LL.  D.    Walpole,  1801.  j 

Flora  Scotica.     By  John  Lightfoot.     Edinburgh.  Fl.  Scotica. 

Indigenous  Botany.    Bv  Colin  Milne,  LL.  D.,  and  Alex-  I       ,,..       T    ,    „   . 

,      ?,      ,  T     J ,       'iwf..,  '  '  >      Milne  Ind.  Bot. 

ander  Gordon.     London,  ltv6.  .  J 

A  New  Family  Herbal:    or,  an  Account  of  Plants  and  1       rrl  ,      T, 

,,    •     ™  ,.    ■  .      it    i-  ■  j    i.u       a   i        -l>     -a     t  I  horn  ton  s    Fain. 

their    Properties    m    Medicine   and    the    Arts.     By  R.  J.  |  w     h 

Thornton.     London,  1810.  j  item. 

Liiidley's  Natural  System  of   Botany.     With  the  Uses  ) 

of  Important  Species  in  Medicine,  the  Arts,  and  Domestic  S-      Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot. 

Economy.     London,  1836.  •  J 

Medical  Botanv.     By  W.  Woodville,  4  vols.     London,  I       w      ,      ,r    ,    », 

1790.     Sec.  edition,  1800.  |       Woodv.  Med.  Hot. 

Barton's  Med.  Botany.  .  Bart.  M.  Bot. 

W.  P.  Barton's  Flora.     Philadelphia,  1S23.  Bart.  Flora'. 

Rafinesque's  Medical  Flora.  Raf,  Med.  Fl. 

Bigelow's  Am.  Medical  Botany,  4  vols.     Boston,  1820.  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot. 

Barton's  Collection  towards  the  Formation  of  a  Materia  )       -r,     j. '    »    „  ™ ' 

M    ,.  \      Barton's  Collec. 

Medica.  j 


Ell.  Bot.  Med. Notes. 


Medical  Botany.     AVith  the  Uses  of  Important  Species  ') 

in  Medicine,  the  Arts,  etc.     By  R.  E.  Griffith.     Philadel-  \      Griffith's  Med.  Bot, 

phia,  1847.  I 

Illustrations  of  Medical    Botany.     By  Joseph    Carson.  |       Carson's  Illust.Med. 

M.  I).     With  Descriptions,  etc.     Philadelphia,  18-17. .  j.  Bot. 

Shecut's  Flora  'CarolinKensis  ;    or,  a  History,  Medical  ) 

and  Economical,  of    the    Vegetable   Kingdom.     Charles-  [■      Shoe.    Flora  Carol, 

ton,  1806.  j 

Elliott's   Sketch  of  the  Botany  of  South   Carolina  and  I 

Georgia.     With  Medical  Notes.   '  Charleston,  1806.  j 

Drayton's  View  of  South  Carolina.     Charleston,  1802.  Drayton's  View. 

Chalmer's  History  of  South  Carolina.  Chaliner's  Hist,  S.C. 

Garden's  and  Lining's  Observations,  Physical  and  Lit-   )       ,-,      ,         ,  T .      A, 

°  >       j  k      Gard.  and  Lin.  Obs. 

erary.  J 

Travels  in   South  and  North  Carolina.     By  John  Law-    1       T  ' ,    o    r, 

„  /i  i    tmc  f      Lawson  s  S.  C. 

son,  Surveyor-General,  1  do.  J 

United    States    Dispensatory.      By    Wood  and    Bache.    I       TT    ~    ,,. 

Philadelphia.  1847.  j       L '  ?•'  1Jl'n'' 

Thacher's  United  States  Dispensatory.  Thacher's  U.S.  Disp. 

American  Dispensatory.     By  II.  Coxe.  Coxe,  Am.  Disp. 

Bergii    Materia    Medica.     E.    regno    vegctabili.    etc. —    )       ,,       ..    ,.,   ,    ,,    . 

c,     ,f  ,     ■       T^n,,  °  a  >      Bergn,  Mat,  Med. 

Stockholm^,  1/82.  J  °    ' 

Cullen's  Materia  Medica.     Edinburgh.  Cullen,  Mat.  Med. 

Lewis'  Materia  Medica.  2  vols.     London,  179-1.  Le.  Mat.  Med. 

Pereira's      Materia      Medica      and      Therapeutics,  2    I       Pe.   Mat.   Med.  and 

vols.'  I  Therap. 

Practical    Dictionary    of    Materia    Medica.     By   John    >       -,-,  ,,,    ,,  t,.  , 

t>  ii      t>i   i    i  i   v.-  i       Bells  Pract  Diet. 

Bell.     Philadelphia.  .  .  J 

Eberle's    Materia    Medica   and    Therapeutics,    2    vols.    |       1,1     i  ■  m  1   «  j 
„,  .,    ,  ,   ,.      ,<,„,  l  >      Eberle,  Mat.  Med. 

Philadelphia,  1844.  j 

Edwards  and  Vavasseur's  Matiere  Medicale.    Paris, 1836.      Ed.  and  Vav. Mat. Med. 

Trousseau  et  Pidoux.   Traite   dc   Tberapeutique,  et   de  )       Trous.  et  Pid.  Mat. 

Matiere  Medicale.     Paris,  1837.  J  Med. 

Elements  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics.     By  H.  j      Frost's  Elems.  Mat. 

R.  Frost,  Prof.  M.  M.  South  Carolina  Medical  College.  j  Med. 

Chapman's  Therapeutics  and  Materia  Medica,  2  vols'.  I       Chap.    Therap.    and 

Philadelphia,  1822.  }  Mat,  Med. 

Ballod      and      Garrod's      Materia     Medica,       Loudon,  [      Bail,  and  Gar.  Mat, 

1846.  J  Med. 

Royle's   Materia  Medica  and   Therapeutics.     Philadel-')       ,,      ,      -,,   .    ,,    , 
,.'',„,»  '  y      Royle,  Mat.  Med. 

phia,  184:7.  j 

Merat  and  de  Leu's  Dictionnaire  Univ.  de  Matiere  Med-  I  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet. 
icale.     Paris,  1837,  tom.  vi.  J  dc  M.  Med. 

Supplementary  volume  to  the  above.  Paris,  I  Supplem.  to  Diet. 
1S46.  j  Univ.  de  M.  Med. 

Watson's   Practice  of  Physic.     Second  American   Edi-   )       Watson's     Pract, 
tion.     Philadelphia,  1845.  f  Physic. 

Southern  Agriculturist.      Charleston,  1820,  '39.  So.  Agricult. 

Matson's  Vegetable  Practice.     1839.  Matson's  Veg.Pract. 

Imp.  System  Botanical  Medicine.     By  Horton  Howard.  Imp.  Syst,  Bot.  Med. 

Pharmacopoeias,  Journals,  Reviews,  Monographs,  Inaugural  Theses,  etc.,  both 
American  and  foreign. 

The  Principles  of  Agriculture,  by  Albert  D.  Thaer,  translated  by  William  Shaw, 
Esq.,  member  of  the  council  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England,  etc., 
and  C.  AV.  Johnson.  Esq.,  F.  R.  S.  4th  Edition.  New  York,  Bangs,  Brother  & 
Co.,  1852. 


Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  containing  abridgod  description?  of  the 
flowering  plants  and  ferns  off  Tennessee,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Alabama.,  Mississippi,  and  Florida,  arranged  according  to  the  natural  system,  by 
A.  W.  Chapman,  M.  I).    The  ferns  by  Daniel  C.  Eaton.     Now  York,  I860.' 

Rural  Economy,  in  its  relations  with  chemistry,  physics,  and  meteorology,  or  chem- 
istry applied  to  agriculture,  by  J.  B.  Boussingault,  member  of  Institute  of  France, 
etc< '   Translated  by  George  Law,  Agriculturist.     New  York,  C.  M.  Saxton,  1857. 

Saxton's  Rural  Hand  Books.     New  York,  1852. 

Thornton's  Southern  Gardener,  and  Receipt  Book.     Camden,  S.  C. 

Enquire  Within;  3,700  facts.     New  York,  1857.     » 

The  Fruit  Gardener.     Philadelphia,  1847. 

Downing's  Fruit  and  Fruit  Trees  of  America.     New  York,  1858. 

The  Southern  Farmer  and  Market  Gardener,  by  Prof.  F.  S.  Holmes,  Charles- 
ton, S.  C. 

The  Art  of  Manufacturing  Soaps  and  Candles.  By  P.  Kurten.  Philadelphia, 
Lindsay  &  Blakiston,  1854. 

Industrial  Resources  of  the  South  and  West,jby  J.  D.  B.  DeBow.  New  Or- 
leans, 1S53.  ' 

Sorgho,  and  Imphoe,  the  Chinese  and  African  Sugar  Canes,  by  H.  S.  Olcott. 
New  York,  1857. 

Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Mines.  From  4th  English  edition. 
New  York,  1853. 

A  New  Family  Herbal,  or  popular  account  of  the  natures  and  properties  of  the 
plants  used  in  Medicine,  Diet,  and  the  Arts,  by  R.  J.  Thornton,  M.  D.  Lon- 
don, 1810.  '  • 

Chemistry  applied  to  Agriculture,  by  Count  John  Antony  Chaptal.  Boston, 
1835. 

Chemical  Field  Lectures,  by  J.  A.  Stockhardt.  Translated  from  German.  Cam- 
bridge, 1853. 

A  Muck  Manual,  by  Samuel  L.  Dana.     New  York,  1858. 

The  Fruit  Garden.     A  Treatise  by  P.  Barry.     New  York,  1857. 

Practical' Treatise  on  Culture  of  Grape,  by  J.  Fiske  Allen.     New  York,  1858. 

Charlton  on  Culture  of  Exotic  Grape  under  Glass.     New  York,  1853. 

Elements  of  Scientific  Agriculture,  by  S.  P.  Norton,  Professor  in  Yale  College, 
New  York,  1854. 

A  Manual  of  Scientific  and  Practical  Agriculture,  for  the  School  and  the  Farm, 
by  J.  L.  Campbell,  A.  M.,  Professor  Physical  Science,  Washington  College,  Va. 
Philadelphia,  1859. 

The  American  Grape  Grower's  Guide,  intended  especially  for  the  climate  of 
America.  Illustrated  by  William  Charlton.  New  York,  A.  0.  Moore,  1859.  For 
full  description  of  best  modes  of  cultivating  the  grape. 

Sorgho  and  Imphee,  the  Chinese  and  African  Sugar  Canes.  Manufacture  of 
sugar,  syrup,  alcohol,  wines,  beer,  cider,  vinegar,  starch,  and  dye  stuffs,  with  trans- 
lations of  French  Pamphlets,  etc.,  etc.,  and  drawing  of  machinery,  by  H.  S.  Olcott. 
New  York,  A.  0.  Moore,  1857. 

Patent  Office  Reports,  Agriculture,  1848,  '51,  '53,  '54,  '55,  '56,  '57,  '58. 

Rural  Chemistry,  by  Edward  Solly,  F.  L.  S.,  Honorary  Member  of  Royal  Agri- 
cultural Society,  England.     Philadelphia,  Henry  C.  Baird,  1S52. 

The  Rural  Cyclopaedia,  or  a  General  Dictionary  of  Agriculture,  and  of  the.  Arts, 
Sciences,  Instruments,  and  Practice  necessary  to  the  Farmer,  etc.  Edited  by  Rev. 
Jno.  M.  Wilson.     In  four  volumes.     Edinburgh,  1852,  A.  Fullarton. 

General  Directions  for  Collecting  and  Drying  Medicinal  Substances,  with  a  list 
of  Indigenous  Plants.  From  the  Surgeon-General's  office,  1862.  Richmond.  A 
pamphlet.  • 


The  following  works,  published  in  England,  may  be  referred  to  in  case  any  are 
desirous  of  consulting  them  : 

Miller's  Gardener's  Dictionary,  Marshall  on  Planting,  Nichols'  Planter's  Calen- 
dar, Pontey's  Profitable  Planter,  Phillips'  Shrubbery,  Treatise  on  Planting  in  the 
Library  of  Useful  Knowledge,  Loudon's  Encyclopedia  of  Plants,  Accum  on  the 
Adulterations  of  Food,  Babbage  on  the  Economy  of  Machinery  and  Manufactures, 
Thompson's  Vegetable  Chemistry,  Knapp's  Technology,  Willich's  Domestic  Ency- 
clopaedia. See,  also,  Treatise  by  Dr.  J.  Harris,  of  Mass.,  on  Insects  injurious 
to  Vegetation,  and  Townsend  Glover's  papers  on  same  subject  in  Patent  Office 
Reports. 

j5^"*  Those  interested  in  obtaining  foreign  seeds,  plants,  etc.,  can  obtain  them  by 
applying  to  James  Carter  &  Co.,  and  Butler  <fc  McCulloch,  of  London;  William 
Thompson,  of  Ipswich,  England ;  and  Vilmorin,  Andreux  &  Cie.,  Paris,  France. 


INTRODUCTION. 


GENERAL   DIRECTIONS 


COLLECTING    AND   DRYING   MEDICINAL    SUBSTANCES    OF 
THE  VEGETABLE  KINGDOM. 


DIRECTIONS     FOR     COLLECTING. 

All  leaves,  flowers^  and  herbs  should  be  preferably  gathered 
in  clear,  dry  weather,  in  the  morning,  after  the  dew  is  exhaled. 

The  roots  of  medicinal  plants,  although  more  advantageously 
gathered  at  certain  periods,  to  be  hereafter  specified,  do  not 
lose  their  medicinal  virtues  in  consequence  of  being  dug  in  mid- 
summer. It  is  probable  that  most  of  those  imported  are  thus 
collected  by  savages  or  ignorant  persons,  when  the  plant  is  in 
full  leaf,  it  being  then  more  easily  recognized. 

Plants,  Annual,  should  be  gathered  at  the  time  when  their 
vegetation  is  most  vigorous,  which  is  genei^ally  from  the  time 
they  begin  to  flower  until  their  leaves  begin  to  change. 

Plants,  Biennial,  should,  in  most  instances,  be  gathered  in 
the  second  season  of  their  growth,  and  about  the  time  of 
flowering. 

Roots  of  AnxN'uals  are  to  be  gathered  just  before  the  time  of 
flowering. 

Roots  of  Biennials  are  to  be  gathered  after  the  vegetation 
of  the  first  vear  has  ceased. 


Roots  of  Perennials  are  to  be  gathered  in  the  spiking,  before 
vegetation  has  commenced.  Roots  should  be  washed,  and  the 
smaller  fibres,  unless  they  are  the  part  employed,  should  be 
then  separated  from  the  body  of  the  root,  which,  when  of  any 
considerable  size,  is  to  be  cut  in  slices  previous  to  being  dried. 

Bulbs  are  to  be  gathered  after  the  new  bulb  is  perfected,  and 
before  it  has  begun  to  vegetate,  which  is  at  the  time  the  leaves 
decay.  Those  which  are  to  be  preserved  fresh  should  be  buried 
in  dry  sand. 

Barks,  whether  of  the  root,  trunk,  or  branches,  should  be 
gathered  in  the  autumn,  or  early  in  the  spring.  The  dead 
epidermis  or  outer  bark,  and  the  decayed  parts,  should  be 
removed.  Of  some  trees. (as  the  elm)  the  inner  bark  only  is 
preserved. 

Leaves  are  to  be  gathered  after  their  full  development,  before 
the  fading  of  the  flowers.  The  leaves  of  biennials  do  not  attain 
their  perfect  qualities  until  the  second  year. 

Flowers  should,  in  general,  be  gathered  at  the  time  of  their 
expansion,  before  or  immediately  after  they  have' fully  opened; 
some — as  the.  Rosa  G-allica — while  in  bud. 

Aromatic  Herbs  are  to  be  gathered  when  in  flower. 

Stalks  and  Twigs  should  be  collected  in  autumn. 

Seeds  should  be  collected  at  the  period  of  their  full  maturity. 


DIRECTIONS     FOR     DRYING. 

Medicinal  products  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  (as  plants,  roots, 
etc.)  should  be  dried  as  rapidly  as  is  consistent  with  their  per- 
fect preservation,  but  not  subjected  to  extreme  heat. 

Those  collected  in  the  warm  months  and  during  dry  weather 
may,  except  in  a  few  instances,  be  dried  by  their  spontaneous 


evaporation,  in   a  well  ventilated  apartment ;    some  —  as  roots 
and  barks — may  be  exposed  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun. 

In  spring  and  autumn,  and  in  damp,  foggy,  or  rainy  weather, 
a  drying-house  should  be  resorted  to;  the  temperature  to  range 
from  70°  to  100°  F.  There  should  be  an  aperture  above  for  the 
escape  of  warm,  moist  air. 

Fibrous  Boots  may  be  dried  in  the  sun,  or  at  a,  heat  of  from 
65°  to  80°  F.  in  the  drying-room. 

Fleshy  Boots  should  be  cut  in  transverse  slices,  not  exceed- 
ing half  an  inch  in  length,  and  during  the  drying  process  should 
be  stirred  several  times  to  prevent  their  moulding. 

Bulbs  must  have  the  coarse  outer  membrane  peeled  off.  In 
other  respects  they  are  to  be  treated  like  fleshy  roots. 

Barks,  Woods  and  Twigs  readily  dry,  in  thin  layers,  in  the 
open  air. 

Leaves,  after  separation  from  the  stalks,  should  be  strewed 
loosely  over  hurdle-frames,  and  their  position  changed  twice  a 
day,  until  they  become  dry.  When  very  succulent,  they  require 
more  care  to  prevent  their  discoloration.  For  thin,  dry  leaves, 
the  heat  need  not  exceed  70°  F.;  for  the  succulent,  it  may 
gradually  be  raised  to  100°  F. 

Annual  Plants  and  Tops. — If  not  too  juicy,  these  may  be 
tied  loosely  in  small  bundles,  and  strung  on  lines  stretched 
across  the  drying-room. 

Flowers  must  be  di-ied  carefully  and  rapidly,  so  as  to  pre- 
serve their  color.  They  should  be  spread  loosely  on  the  hurdles, 
and  turned  several  times  by  stirring.  When  flowers  or  leaves 
owe  their  virtues  to  volatile  oils,  greater  care  is  necessary. 

A  carefully  pressed  specimen  of  the  stem,  leaf,  and  flower  of 
each  medicinal, substance  collected,  whether  it  be  bark,  root,  or 


8 


herb,  should  be  obtained  and  forwarded  with  each  collection, 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  its  identification.  From  "General 
Directions"  and  List  of  Plants — a  pamphlet  issued  from  Sur 
geon-General's  Office,  1862.     Consult,  also,  U.  S.  Dispensatory. 


The  two  following  papers,  contributed  by  the  writer  to  a 
periodical  during  the  present  war,  are  introduced  before  enter- 
ing upon  the*  systematic  portion  of  the  work,  because  they 
contain  information,  in  a  condensed  shape,  which  may  be  prac- 
tically useful : 

BRIEF   NOTICE    OF   EASILY    PROCURABLE    MEDICINAL    PLANTS,  TO    BE 

COLLECTED  BY  SOLDIERS  WHILE  IN   SERVICE  IN  ANY 

PART  OF  THE  CONFEDERATE  STATES. 

My  attention  having  been  occupied  with  the  subject  of  the 
substitutes  for  imported  Medicines,  I  have  thought  that  if  some 
hints  were  given  the  Surgeons  and  Assistant  Surgeons  in  the 
field,  with  respect  to  the  useful  properties  of  a  few  articles 
(easily  attainable  in  every  part  of  the  country),  it  would 
great!}7  lessen  the  use  of  the  more  expensive  medicines.  One 
man  detailed  from  each  company,  or  from  a  regiment,  could 
obtain  a  full  supply  of  each  substance  fresh,  for  the  use  of  the 
Surgeon,  and  this  at  less  trouble  and  expense  than  if  it  was 
procured  b}T  the  Medical  Purveyors,  to  be  distributed  to  the 
regiments.  I  will  mention  some  of  these  substances.  They 
are  familiar  to  all,  but  still,  without  special  recommendation, 
they  are  likely  to  escape  attention  : 

Sassafras  (Laurus). — Whilst  engaged  in  active  duties  as  Sur- 
geon to  the  Ilolcombe  Legion,  whenever  a  soldier  suffered 
from  measles,  pneumonia,  bronchitis,  or  cold,  his  conrpanion  or 
nurse  was  directed  to  procure  the  roots  and  leaves  of  Sassafras, 
and  a  tea  made  with  this  supplied  that  of  Flax  Seed  or  Gum 
Arabic.  Each  leaf  of  Sassafras  contains  a  great  amount  of 
mucilage. 

Bene  (Besamum). — The  planters  and  farmers  throughout  the 
Confederate  States  should  save  and  cure  all  the  leaves  of  the 


9 


Ber^e  now  growing,  to  be  used  in  camp  dysentery,  in  colds, 
coughs,  etc.,  among  our  soldiers,  in  place  of  Gum  Arabic  or 
Flax  Seed.  One  or  two  leaves  in  a  tumbler  of  water  imparts 
their  mucilaginous  properties. 

Dogwood  CCornus  Florida). — Since  the  war,  the  bark  has  been 
employed  with  great  advantage  in  place  of  quinine  in  fevers — 
by  physicians  in  Sumter  district.  S.  C,  and  elsewhere  —  par- 
ticularly in  cases  of  low  forms  of  fever,  and  in  dysentery,  on 
the  river  courses,  of  a  typhoid  character.  It  is  given  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  Peruvian  barks.  In  fact,  in  almost  any  case  where 
the  Cinchona  bark  was  used. 

Thoroughwort,  Bone-set  (Eupatorium  perfoliatum). — Thorough- 
wort,  drank  hot  during  the  cold  stage  of  fever,  and  cold  as  a 
tonic  and  antiperiodic,  is  thought  by  many  physicians  to  he 
even  superior  to  the  Dogwood,  Willow,  or  Poplar,  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  quinine.  It  is  quite  sufficient  in  the  management  of 
many  of  the  malarial  fevers  that  will  prevail  among  our  troops 
during  the  summer;  and  if  it  does  not  supply  entirely  the  place 
of  quinine,  will  certainly  lessen  the  need  for  its  use.  These 
plants  can  be  easily  procured  in  every  locality. 

Tulip  Bearing  Poplar  (Liriodendron)  and  the  Willow  bark 
supply  a  remedy  for  the  fevers  met  with  in  camp.  Cold  infu- 
sion given. 

Sweet  Gum  (Liquidambar  Styraciflua). — The  inner  bark  eon- 
tains  an  astringent,  gummy  substance.  If  it  is  boiled  in  milk, 
or  a  tea  made  with  water,  its  astringency  is  so  great  that 
it  will  easily  check  diarrhoea,  and  associated  with  the  use  of 
other  remedies,  dysentery  also.  The  leaf  of  the  gum  when 
green  I  have  also  ascertained  to  be  powerfully  astringent,  and 
to  contain  as  large  a  proportion  of  tannin  as  that  of  any  other 
tree.  I  believe  that  the  Cum  leaf  and  the  leaf  of  the  Myrtle, 
and  Blackberry  can  be  used  wherever  an  astringent  is  re- 
quired ;  cold  water  takes  it  up.  They  can,  I  think,  be  also 
used  for  tanning  leather,  when  green,  in  place  of  oak  bark. 

Blackberry  Boot  (Bubus). — Wherever  it  can  be  obtained,  a 


10 


decoction  will  check  profuse  diarrhoeas  of  any  kind.     The  root 
of  the  Chinquapin  (Castanea)  is  also  astringent. 

Gentian. — Our  native  tonics'  are  abundant.  Several  varieties 
of  Gentian,  Sabbatia,  etc.,  may  be  added  to  those  mentioned,. 
The  Pipsissewa,  or  Winter  Green  {Chwiapliila),  is  both  an  aro- 
matic tonic  and  a  diuretic,  and  therefore  selected  in  the  con- 
valescence from  low  fevers  followed  by  dropsical  symptoms. 
These,  the  numerous  aromatic  plants,  etc.,  are  not  intended 
to  take  the  place  of  mercury,  or  any  other  drug  which  can  be 
obtained  and  is  required.  It  is  not  intended  that  a  blind  or 
exclusive  reliance  should  be  placed  in  them  —  but  they  are 
recommended  to  supply  a  great  and  present  need. 

Holly  {Ilex  Opacd). — The  bark  of  the  holly  root  chewed,  or  a 
tea  made  with  it,  yields  an  excellent  bitter  demulcent,  very 
useful  in  coughs,  colds,  etc.  The  bitter  pi'inciple  is  also  tonic. 
The  Holly  contains  bird-lime. 

Wild  Jalap  {Podophyllum  Peltattun). — If  this  can  be  found  it 
can  be  used  as  a  laxative  in  place  of  rhubarb  or  jalap,  or 
wherever  a  purgative  is  required.  Every  planter  in  the  Con- 
federate States  can  produce  the  opium,  mustard,  and  flax  seed 
that  is  required,  either  for  the  army  or  for  home  use. 

I  think  we  stand  most  in  need  also  of  nitrate,  chlorate,  and 
bicarb,  of  potash,  as  we  have  no  means  of  supplying  these  by 
vegetable  substances.  It  has  suggested  itself  to  me  that  those 
in  charge  of  our  Nitre  works  might  also  produce  other  prepa- 
rations of  potash  with  veiy  little  additional  trouble. 

Potash,  pearlash,  and  soda  are  easily  procurable  from  the 
ashes  of  certain  plants.  Our  Salsola  Kali,  growing  on  the  sea 
coast,  is  rich  in  soda.  Consult  index  for  references  to  more 
detailed  information. 


11 


SOUTHERN    TREES   ADAPTED    TO    THE    PURPOSES    OP    THE    MANUFAC- 
TURER  AND    WOOD    ENGRAVER. 

A  short  time  since,  in  answer  to  an  inquiry  of  a  correspond- 
ent, I  gave  the  names  of  several  trees  growing  at  the  South  as 
j>robably  suited  for  the  purposes  of  the  wood  engraver.  To 
these  1  will  now  add  those  noticed  by  subsequent  correspond- 
ents, and  also  call  attention  to  two  or  three  other  trees  with 
wood  of  great  fineness  and  density  of  structure,  which  may  be 
tested  as  substitutes  for  the  wood  heretofore  imported  from  the 
North;  and  which  are  also  likely  to  prove  serviceable  when- 
ever a  wood  of  hard,  fine  grain  is  required  by  the  manufac- 
turer. 

Iron  Wood,  Horn  Beam  (Ostrya  Virginica,  Ell.  Sk.) — It  has 
often  been  employed  by  turners,  and  wrought  into  mill-cogs, 
wheels,  etc.  The  wood  is  tough  and  white,  and  will  prove  an 
important  acquisition  to  those  interested  in  machinery,  or  in 
the  construction  of  implements,  tools,  etc. 

White  Beech  (Fagus  Sylvatlca).  Diffused.  This  wood  is  very 
hard,  is  capable  of  receiving  a  high  polish,  and  should  be  prized 
by  cabinet  makers  and  turners  for  manufacturing  purposes. 

Sweet  Birch,  Cherry  Birch,  Mountain  Mahogany  (Betula  Lenta. 
Linn.) — Grows  in  mountains  of  South  Carolina,  possesses  a  fine 
grain,  and  also  susceptible  of  a  beautiful  polish.  The  .Red  Birch 
(JBetula  Nigra)  grows  in  our  swamps  in  the  lower  country.  The 
Black  Birch  is  said  by  Lindley  to  be  exceedingly  hard. 

White  Oak  (Quercus  Alba). — One  of  the  best  of  the  Oaks, 
with  the  Live  Oak,  likely  to  be  employed  wherever  great  dura- 
bility is  desirable;  these,  with  the  Walnut  and  Maple,  are  well 
known. 

Dog  Wood  (Coi'nus  Florida). — Much  used  on  our  plantations 
wherever  a  wood  of  firmness  of  texture  is  required. 


12 


Persimmon  (Diospyros  Yirginiana). — A  very  hard  wood — in 
the  natural  family  of  plants  found  under  what  is  known  as  the 
Ebony  tribe. 

The  Holly  (Ilex  Opaca),  the  Apple,  and  Pear  ai-e  very  much 
esteemed  by  many;  perhaps  harder  than  any  of  those  cited. 
These  may  be  more  particularly  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  the 
wood  engraver. 

The  Calico  Bush,  Ivy  Bush  (Kalmia  Latifolia). — Grows  in  our 
middle  districts.     Wood  hard  and  dense. 

Mountain  Laurel  Bay  (Rhododendron  Maximum). — Found  in 
our  mountains;  said  to  resemble  the  Kalmia,  and  quoted  by  a 
writer  as  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  the  engraver. 

Iron  Wood. — Another  tree  named  from  its  supposed  firm- 
ness (Bumelia  Lycioides  Ell.  Sk.~)  I  have  collected  it  in  Charles- 
ton, and  forty  miles  from  the  ocean.. 

Yellow  Locust  Tree,  False  Acacia  (Robinia  Pseudoaccacice,  L.) — 
In  mountains  and  in  lower  districts.  The  grain  is  fine  and 
compact;  the  wood,  on  account  of  its  durability,  is  much  used 
for  treenails  in  ship  building. 

Leather  Wood  (Dirca  Palustris). — Grows  in  Georgia ;  is  both 
hard  and  pliant. 

Arbor  Vitoz (Thuja occidentalism. — Grows  in  mountains.  Wood 
said  by  Michaux  to  be  the  most  durable  which  our  forests 
produce. 

The  soft  woods  are:  the  Cedar,  the  Cypress,  the  Black 
Spruce,  or  Fir  (Pinus  nigra,  Aiton);  the  Pinus  strobus  (growing 
in  the  mountains),  and  the  Spruce  tree  of  our  low  country 
swamps,  which  might  well  supply  the  place  of  our  Northern 
pine.  All  these,  with  the  Willow  ( Salix  nigra),  are  used  for 
the  timbers  and  spars  of  boats.  The  last  is  both  soft  and 
durable.  Mr.  Elliott  says,  in  his  Sketch  of  the  Botany  of 
South  Carolina,  that  the  wood  of  the  lied  Mulberry  (Morns 
rubra)  is  preferred  in  the  building  of  boats  to  that  of  any  other, 
except  the  Eed  Cedar. 


13 


The  wood  of  the  Black  Gum  (JYyssa  aquatica),  particularly 
the  portion  near  the  ground,  is  peculiarly  white,  spongy,  and 
light.  It  has  great  elasticity,  and  a  specific  gravity  almost 
low  enough  to  adapt  it,  in  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  to  be  used 
as  a  substitute  for  the  bark  of  the  Cork  tree. 

The  Poplar  is  well  known  also  for  its  qualities  of  softness 
and  lightness.  The  Maple  less  so.  The  Pride  of  India  is  light 
and  durable,  and  susceptible  of  polish,  with  a  pretty  grain 
under  varnish,  adapting  it  to  purposes  of  the  manufacturer. 
But  these  do  not  resist  water  when  submerged,  as  do  the  softer 
woods  first  mentioned,  viz:  the  Cypress,  Cedar,  or  the  Pal- 
metto, which  is  characteristically  soft,  porous,  and  elastic. 


RESOURCES 

OF    THE 

SOUTHERN  FIELDS  AND  FORESTS. 

MEDICAL,  ECONOMICAL,  AND  AGRICULTURAL. 


Class  I.  EXOGENS ;  OR,  DICOTYLEDONOUS 

FLOWERING  PLANTS. 

Sub-Class  I,  POLYPETAL.E. 

NATURAL  ORDERS. 

RANUNCULACEiE.     ( Crow-Foot  Tribe.) 

The  plants  belonging  to  this  order  are  generally  acrid, 
caustic,  and  poisonous.  It  contains  some  species,  however, 
which  are  innocuous.  The  caustic  principle  is  volatile,  and 
neither  acid  nor  alkaline. 

Clematis  crispa,  Linn.  Not  of  Ell.  Sk.,  which,  is  the  C. 
cylindrica,  T.  and  Gray.  Grows  in  damp,  rich  soils,  and 
in  swamps  in  the  low  country  of  South  Carolina,  vicinity  of 
Charleston.     Dr.  Bachman.     Newborn,  Croom.     Fl.  May. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  311 ;  U.  S.  Disp. 
1244;  Shec.  Flora' Carol.  418.  This  plant  is  substituted 
for  the  C.  erecta,  mentioned  by  Storck,  and  is  employed  in 
secondary  syphilis,  ulcers,  porrigo,  etc.;  given  internally, 


16 

with  the  powdered  leaves  applied  to  the  sore.  It  acts  also 
as  a  diaphoretic  and  diuretic.  Merat  says  it  possesses  the 
properties  of  the  C.  vitalba,  which  is  a  dangerous  vegetable 
caustic,  used  as  a  substitute  for  cantharides,  and  applied  to 
rheumatic  limbs,  and  in  paralysis  and  gout.  The  decoc- 
tion of  the  root  is  alterative  and  purgative;  and  is  also  said 
to  be  valuable  in  washing  sores  and  ulcers,  in  order  to 
change  the  mode  of  their  vitality,  and  to  make  them  cica- 
trize. Shecut  remarks  that  "the  Spanish  or  blistering 
flies  are  very  fond  of  the  Clematis  crispa,  and  it  would  be 
well  for  medical  gentlemen  in  the  country  to  propagate  the 
plant  about  their  residences,  in  order  to  secure  a  constant 
succession  of  these  valuable  insects."  See  Potato,  "Con- 
volvulus.'" The  American  species  are  deserving  of  partic- 
ular attention,  and  we  would  invite  further  investigation 
of  them. 

Clematis  viorna,  L.  Traveller's-joy.  Grows  in  middle 
and  upper  districts.     Elliott.     Fl.  July. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  489 ;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  86  ;  U.  S. 
Disp.  1244.  This,  and  the  following,  have  also  a  caustic 
property,  and  are  employed  internally  as  diuretics  and 
sudorifics  in  chronic  rheumatism ;  and  externally,  in  the 
treatment  of  eruptions,  and  as  vesicants.  Shecut  says  that 
a  yellow  dye  may  be  extracted  from  both  leaves  and 
branches ;  the  latter  are  sufficiently  tough  to  make  withs 
and  fagots.  The  fibrous  shoots  may  be  converted  into 
paper,  and  the  wood  is  yellow,  compact,  and  odoriferous, 
furnishing  an  excellent  material  for  veneering. 

Clematis  Virginiaiia,  Linn.  Virgin's  bower.  Grows  in 
rich  soils ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.  Fl.  July.  ■  Wood  and 
Bache,  IT.  S.  Disp.  1244;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  80.  See  C. 
viorna. 

Anemone  riemorosa,  L.     \      Wood  Anemone.     Mountains 
Ranunculus  phragmites.  f  of  South  Carolina.     Fl.  April. 
Bull.  Plantes  Ven.  de  France  ;  Linn.  Veg.  M.  Med.  109  ; 
Fl.  Scotica,  287 ;  Chomel,  Plantes  Usuelles,  ii,  376 ;  Diet. 


des  8c.  Med.  Ixv,  194;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i, 
292 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  1228.  It  is  said  to  be  extremely  acrid- 
even  small  doses  producing  a  great  disturbance  of  the 
stomach ;  employed  as  a  rubefacient  in  fevers,  gout,  and 
rheumatism,  and  as  a  vesicatory  in  removing  corns  from 
the  feet.  It  is  reported  to  have  proved  a  speedy  cure  for 
tinea  capitis,  and  the  flowers  have  been  used  in  violent 
headaches;  Linnaeus  says  that  the  plant  produces  a  dis- 
charge of  urine,'  attended  with  dysentery,  in  cattle  which 
feed  on  it.     It  contains  a  principle  called  anemonin. 

Most  of  the  species  of  Anemone,  says  Wilson,  Rural 
Cyc,  are  acrimonious  and  detersive.  "An  infusion  of 
Anemone  is  said  to  remove  woman's  obstructions,  and  to 
increase  her  milk  ;  the  bulbous  roots  when  chewed  are  said 
to  strengthen  the  gums  and  preserve  the  teeth ;  a  decoc- 
tion of  the  roots  is  said  to  cleanse  corrosive  ulcers,  and 
heal  inflammation  in  the  eyes;  the  flowers,  boiled  in  oil,' are 
said  to  have  the  property  of  thickening  the  hair,  and  Anem- 
one ointment  is  said  to  be  a  good  eye-salve,  and  a  useful 
application  to  ulcers  and  external  inflammations,"  all  which 
I  introduce  for  what  it  may  be  worth  ;  no  doubt  the  oil 
furnished  by  it  imparts  some  property  to  the  plant,  and, 
like  tannin  in  all  the  astringent  plants,  accounts  for  the 
slight  medicinal  etfect  which  results  from  their  use.  An 
improved  knowledge  will,  one  day,  determine  the  exact 
position  in  value  of  the  whole  vegetable  kingdom,  but  for 
a  while  we  must  be  contented  with  the  publication  of 
much  that  is  vague  and  uncertain.  The  unexpected  dis- 
coveries of  Ipecacuanha,  Cinchona,  Veratrum  viride,  etc., 
warn  us  not  to  discard,  upon  a  superficial  examination,  all 
those  popularly  considered  as  of  trivial  importance. 

Hepatica  triloba,  Chaix.    \      Liverwort.     Grows   in    light 
Anemone  hepatica,  Linn.  J  soils,    upper   districts,    and    in 
Georgia.     Collected  by  Mr.  Ravenel  at  the  Eutaw  battle- 
ground, St.  John's,  Berkley ;  sent  to  me  also  from  Abbe- 
ville district. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  368;  Raf.  Med.  PI,  i,  238  ;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst. 


18 

81.  A  tonic  and  astringent,  supposed  by  some  to  possess 
deobstruent  virtues.  It  has  been  used  to  a  considerable 
extent  in  haemoptysis  and  chronic  cough  ;  but  Wood  says 
it  has  fallen  into  neglect. 

Hydrastis  Canadensis,  W.  Orange -root;  yellow  -  root ; 
turmeric ;  golden  seal.  Grows  in  rich  soils,  among  the 
mountains  of  South  Carolina.     Fl.  May. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  6 ;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  ii,  21 ;  Veg.  Mat.  Med, 
ii,  17  :  Raf.  Med.  Fl.  i,  251 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  82.  It  has 
a  narcotic  smell ;  used  in  this  country  as  a  tonic.  The  root 
was  known  to  the  Indians,  from  the  brilliant  yellow  color 
which  it  yields.  This  appears  to  be  permanent,  and  might 
be  applied  in  the  arts.  Martin,  in  the  Trans.  Phil.  Soc. 
1783,  in  his  Observations  on  the  Dyes  used  by  the  Aborigi- 
nes, states,  from  his  own  experience,  that  it  was  found  ser- 
viceable in  coloring  silks,  wool,  and  linen.  With  indigo, 
it  yielded  a  rich  green.  Griffith  mentions  it  as  a  powerful 
bitter  tonic,  much  used  in  the  West  as  a  wash  in  chronic 
ophthalmia.  In  its  fresh  state,  supposed  to  be  narcotic. 
Tincture,  decoction,  or  powder  employed.  Dose  of  powder, 
thirty  to  sixty  grains. 

Caltha  jxdustris,  L.  Var.  pa  mass, ifolia,  T.  &  G.  Cedar 
Swamps,  S.  C,  (Pursh);  Chap.  Flora.  The  flower  buds  are 
pickled  for  use  as  a  substitute  for  capers. 

Ranunculus  sceleratus,  L.  T.  and  Gray.  Grows  in  bogs; 
abundant  around  Charleston.    Xewbern,  Croom.    Fl.  May. 

Bull.  Plantes  Yen.  de  France,  143  ;  Dem.  Elem  de  Bot. ; 
Lightfoot's  Fl.  Scotica,  295 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  584 ;  Mer.  and  de 
L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med,  620.  and  the  Supplem.  1846,  620; 
Dioscorides,  lib.  vi,  c.  iv ;  Orfila.  Toxicol.  Gen.  ii,  90;  Big. 
Am.  Med.  Bot.  iii,  65 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  84. 

The  juice  possesses  remarkable  caustic  powers,  raising  a 
blister  if  applied  topically,  and  often  in  doses  of  two  drops 
exciting  fatal  inflammation  alono;  the  whole  tract  of  the 
alimentary  canal.     Some,  however,  say  that  this  property  is 


19 

not  constant,  as  it  is  of  a  volatile  nature,  and  is  dissipated 
by  heat.  According  to  Merat,  the  Bedouins  use  it  as  a 
rubefacient,  and  it  is  applied  in  sciatica,  forming  a  substi- 
tute for  cantharides.  Annal.  Univ.  de  Med.  1843.  It  has 
been  administered  with  success  in  asthma,  icterus,  dysuria, 
rheumatism,  pneumonia,  and  fixed  pains.  When  it  acts 
as  a  vesicant,  it  has  not  the  disadvantage  of  producing 
strangury.  Bigelow  says  the  volatile  principle  may  be 
collected  by  distillation,  and  preserved  in  closely-stopped 
bottles.  Tilebein  relates  that  the  distilled  water  is  exces- 
sively acrid,  and  on  cooling,  deposits  crystals,  which  are  al- 
most insoluble  in  any  menstruum.  Precipitates  are  caused 
by  muriate  of  tin  and  acetate  of  lead.  The  boiled  root 
may  be  eaten. 

Ranunculus  rcpens,  Linn.  1       Grows  in  shady  woods,  and 
Nilidus,  Ell.  Sk.  j  among  the  mountains  of  this 

state.     Fl.  Aug. 

U.  S.  Disp.  584.     This  has  also  a  rubefacient  and  epis- 

pastic  operation.     Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  iii,  65.    Very  similar 

to  the  above  in  its  mode  of  action. 

Delphinium  consolida,  L.  Larkspur.  Becoming  natural- 
ized. The  plant  has  astringent  properties,  and  its  flowers 
yield  a  fine  blue  dye. 

Oimicifuga  racemosa,  Torrey.  1      Black    snake-root ;    Oo- 
Actcea  racemosa,  L.  &  Willd.  j  hosh ;  grows  in  the  upper 
districts,  and  in  Georgia.     Fl.  July. 

Linnseus,  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  102  (see  Actsea).  The  root  is 
used  in  the  debility  of  females  attendant  upon  uterine  dis- 
order ;  and,  in  its  action,  is  thought  to  have  a  special 
affinity  for  this  organ.  It  has  also  a  decided  effect  upon 
some  nervous  affections,  especially  chorea.  See  Journal 
Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  vi,  20,  and  Dr.  Young's  notice  of  it  in 
the  Am.  Journal  Med.  Sc.  v,  310.  "We  have  administered 
this  medicine  in  chorea  with  complete  success,  after  the 
failure  of  purgatives  and  metallic  tonics ;    and  have  also 


20 

derived  the  happiest  effects  from  it  in  eases  of  convulsions 
recurring  periodically,  and  connected  with  uterine  dis- 
order." Wood,  U.  S.  Disp.  The  powdered  root  is  em- 
ployed, a  teaspoonful  three  times  a  day.  It  is  a  stimulating 
tonic,  increasing  the  secretion  of  the  skin,  kidneys,  and 
lungs.  Merat,  in  the  Diet,  de  Mat.  Med.,  adds  the  authority 
of  Dr.  Kirkbride  in  support  of  the  efficacy  of  this  plant  in 
chorea,  who  advises  that  a  purgative  be  premised,  when  it 
may  be  given  for  several  days,  and  then  discontinued,  to 
be  resinned  again  ;  frictions  should  at  the  same  time  be 
made  upon  the  surface  with  the  tinct.  See  the  Supplem, 
1846,  to  the  Diet,  de.  M.  Med.  cit.  sup.  Dr.  Hildreth  has 
found  this  plant,  in  combination  with  iodine,  very  advan- 
tageous in  the  early  stages  of  phthisis.  Am.  Journal  Med. 
Se.  Oct.  1842.  The  decoction  is  the  most  useful  form;  one 
ounce  of  the  bruised  root  is  boiled  in  a  pint  of  water,  of 
which  a  half  pint  to  one  pint  may  be  taken  during  the  day. 
Dr.  Physick  also  had  known  it  to  cure  cases  of  chorea;  and 
Merat  and  de  L.,  in  the  1st  vol.  of  op.  cit.  p.  67  (see  Actrea), 
say  that  it  partakes  of  the  properties  of  A.  brachipetala. 
According  to  Chapman,  it  produces  free  nausea,  with 
abundant  expectoration,  succeeded  by  nervous  trembling, 
vertigo,  and  a  remarkable  slowness  of  the  pulse.  Dr.  Gar- 
den administered  the  tincture  for  phthisis.  London  Med. 
Journal,  li,  245.  Barton  employed  it  as  an  astringent, 
which  property  it  owes  to  the  gallic  acid  it  contains.  He 
also  gave  it  in  putrid  sore  throat.  In  ]Srew  Jersey,  a  decoc- 
tion of  the  root  is  said  to  cure  itch;  and  in  ^sTorth  Carolina, 
it  is  given  as  a  drench  for  cattle,  in  the  disease  called 
murrain.  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  91 ;  Carson's  Illust,  Med.  Bot. 
i,  p.  9,  1847.  See  Annal.  in  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  vi,  20, 
1843.  According  to  Mr.  Tilghman,  it  contains  gum ; 
starch;  sugar;  resin;  wax;  tannin;  gallic  acid ;,  salts  of 
potassa ;  lime  ;  magnesia ;  iron,  etc.  The  ethereal  extract 
contains  most  of  its  virtues.  See,  also,  Jones,  in  the  Jour- 
nal de  Pharm.  x,  670 ;  and  Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  vi, 
14 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  92.  He  remarks  that  its  greatest 
efficacy  has  been  exhibited  in  rheumatism ;   the  power  of 


21 

the  root  appearing  to  depend  on  the  volatile  oil  and  bitter 
resin,  both  of  which  are  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  partially  so 
in  water. 

ZanthorrMza  apiifolia,  L'Her.  Yellow  root.  Upper,  and 
mountainous  districts.     Fl.  April. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  745 ;  Bart.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  203 ;  New  York 
Med.  Eepos.  291;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  6;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot, 
95 ;  Elliott's  Bot,  Med.  note  i,  376 ;  Stokes,  Med.  Bot,  ii, 
194. 

The  bark  possesses  pure  bitter  tonic  properties,  closely 
analogous  to  those  of  Colombo  and  quassia.  Dr.  P.  C. 
Barton  thinks  it  a  more  powerful  bitter  than  the  former  of 
these.  It  was  given  by  Dr.  Woodhouse  in  doses  of  forty 
grains  in  dyspepsia;  a  decoction  is  also  employed.  The 
shrub  contains  a  gum  and  resin,  both  of  which  are  in- 
tensely bitter.  Alcohol  is  the  best  menstruum.  Its  tinc- 
torial powers  were  known  to  the  Indians.  It  yields  plenti- 
fully a  coloring  matter,  a  drab  being  imparted  by  it  to 
wool,  and  a  rich  yellow  to  silk ;  without  a  mordant  it  does 
not  affect  cotton  or  linen ;  with  Prussian  blue  it  strikes 
a  dull  olive  green  color. 

Jeffersonia  diphylla,  Pers.  Twin-leaf.  Rich  shady  woods, 
Tennessee. 

The  decoction  of  this  plant  is  used  by  the  vegetable  prac- 
titioners and  Indian  doctors  as  a  diuretic  in  dropsy,  and  as 
an  external  application  to  sores,  ulcers,  etc. 

Podophyllum  peltatum,  L.  Wild  jalap  ;  May-apple ;  wild 
lemon;  duck- weed.  Diffused  in  rich  swamp  lands  ;  grows 
in  Abbeville  and  Sumter  districts;  collected  in  St.  John's, 
Berkley ;  vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach. ;  Newbern.  I  saw 
it  at  Portsmouth,  Virginia.     Fl.  March. 

Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  749;  Bell's  Pract.  Diet.;  Drayton's 
View  S.  O.  73;  Royle,  Mat,  Med.  573  ;  Frost's  Elems.  137  ; 
Eb.  Mat,  Med.  i,  205;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat,  Med.  i,  514;  U. 
S;  Disp.  556 ;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  34  ;  Bart.  Med.  Bot. 


22 

i,  9;  Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  in,  873;  Med.  Record,  iii, 
332;  Ball  and  Gar.  Mat.  Med.  193;  Schoepf,'M.  M.  86; 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  Mat.  Med.  v.  207 ;  Chap.  Mat.  Med. 
and  Therap.  209;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  478;  Lind.  JSTat.  Syst. 
Bot. 

Bigelow  says  it  is  a  sure  and  active  cathartic :  "  "We 
hardly  know  any  native  plant  that  answers  better  the  com- 
mon purposes  of  jalap,  aloes,  and  rhubarb."  The  Shakers 
prepare  an  extract,  which  is  much  esteemed  as  a  mild  ca- 
thartic. By  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Burgon,  in  the  Am. 
Med.  Recorder,  it  is  useful  in  combination  with  calomel ; 
ten  grains  of  the  latter  with  twenty  of  the  podophyllum. 
In  bilious  affections  it  usually  supersedes  the  necessity  of 
an  emetic  previous  to  a  cathartic;  and  by  this  means  two 
desirable  effects  are  produced  by  one  agent.  Big.  Appen- 
dix, iii,  187;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  116.  It  has  been  recom- 
mended in  dropsy,  from  the  abundant  evacuations  which 
it  produces.  According  to  Staples,  it  contains  resin  and 
starch  ;  and  Dr.  Hodgson  has  given  the  name  podophylline 
to  the  peculiar  substance  it  contains.  See  Journal  Phil. 
Coll.  Pharm. ;  Carson's  Illust.  of  Med.  Botany,  pt.  i.  An 
officinal  extract  is  prepared,  given  in  doses  of  5-15  grains. 
The  leaves  are  purgative,  and  sometimes  produce  nausea  in 
irritable  stomachs ;  the  fruit  is  eatable.  It  was  employed 
by  the  Cherokees  as  an  anthelmintic;  a  few  drops  poured 
into  the  ear  are  said  to  restore  the  power  of  hearing.  The 
plant  has  also  been  found  to  afford  speedy  relief  in  incon- 
tinence of  urine.  Dr.  McBride  made  great  use  of  it  during 
his  practice  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  S.  C;  he  said  that  it 
answers  all  the  purposes  of  the  officinal  jalap,  "producing 
copious  liquid  discharges,  with  no  griping".  The  powdered 
root  is  applied  as  a  dressing  for  ulcers;  it  is  said  to  restrain 
excessive  granulations,  sprinkled  over  the  surface.  In  a 
communication  from  Dr.  Douglass,  of  Chester  district,  S. 
C,  his  correspondent,  Mr.  Melveown,  considers  the  root  too 
drastic  as  a  purge ;  he  adds  that  the  powdered  root,  mixed 
with  equal  parts  of  resin,  acts  as  a  powerful  caustic,  and  is 
used  by  farriers  for  eecharotic  purposes.      We  have  em- 


28 

ployed  this  plant  among  negroes  as  a  substitute  for  jalap 
and  the  ordinary  cathartics,  and  find  that  it  answers  every 
purpose,  being  easily  prepared  by  the  person  having  charge 
of  them.  Thirty  grains  of  the  root  in  substan«e  were  given, 
or  an  infusion  of  one  ounce  in  a  pint  of  water,  of  which  a 
wineglassful  three  times  a  day  is  the  dose;  employing  the 
Liriodendron  tulipifera  as  a  substitute  for  quinine  during 
the  stage  of  intermission  of  all  mild  cases  of  intermittent 
fever.  We  would  invite  the  particular  attention  of  planters 
to  the  extensive  use  of  these  medicines  upon  their  planta- 
tions. We  have  caused  them  to  be  used  on  one  on  which 
upward  of  a  hundred  negroes  resided,  and  we  found  that 
during  a  period  of  seven  months,  including  the  warm 
months  of  summer,  they  were  used  in  all  cases,  and  appar- 
ently fulfilled  every  indication.  No  detailed  statement  of 
these  could  be  obtained,  as  it  was  administered  by  one  of 
their  own  number;  but  large  quantities  of  them  were  re- 
quired. The  soft  pulp  contained  within  the  rind  of  the 
fruit  has  a  very  peculiar  musky  taste,  which  is  relished  by 
many  persons.  The  pulp  is  squeezed  into  a  wineglass,  and 
with  the  addition  of  a  little  old  Madeira  and  sugar,  it  is  said 
to  be  equal  to  the  luscious  golden  granadilla  of  the  tropics. 
Am.  Farmer,  vol.  14  ;  Farmer's  Encyc. 

Papaverace^e.     (The  Poppty   Tribe.) 

Narcotic  properties  generally  prevail  throughout  this 
order.  Seeds  are  universally  oily — seldom  narcotic.  Eu- 
rope is  the  principal  seat  of  the  papaveracese ;  but  several 
species  included  under  it  are  found  in  North  America,  be- 
yond the  tropic.  Most  of  them  are  annuals,  the  perennials 
being  chiefly  natives  of  mountainous  tracts. 

Papaver  Somniferum.  Opium  Poppy.  Thaer,  in  his  Prin- 
ciples of  Agriculture,  in  speaking  of  the  cultivation  of  the 
poppy  as  an  oil-bearing  plant,  says:  "The  color  of  the 
flower  is  unimportant.  The  seed  is  either  white  or  black. 
Some  persons  think  that  the  black-seeded  variety  is  more 


24 

productive,  others  give  the  preference  to  the  white  in  this 
respect.  The  white  seed  is  the  more  agreeable  to  the  taste, 
as  likewise  the  oil  expressed  from  it.  That  variety  of 
poppy  is  preferred  whose  heads  or  capsules  when  ripe  as- 
sume a  slightly  bluish  tinge.  The  structure  of  the  capsules 
is  of  more  consequence ;  for  there  is  a  variety  in  which  the 
envelope  of  the  capsule  dehisces  spontaneously  when  ripe, 
so  that  the  seed  is  easily  shed ;  and  another,  in  which  the 
seed  remains  enclosed  within  the  capsules,  which  must  be 
opened  in  order  to  extract  it."  "The  poppy  may  become 
one  of  the  most  profitable  crops,  if  we  have  the  means 
of  disposing  of  the  seed,  or  if  we  knew  how  to  extract  the 
oil.  By  proper  cultivation  it  maybe  made  to  produce  from 
nine  to  ten  bushels  of  seed  per  acre,  and  one  bushel  yields 
twenty-four  pounds  of  good  oil.  This  oil,  especially  the 
first  portion,  which  is  cold-pressed,  and  mixed  in  the  mill 
with  slices  of  apple,  is  doubtless  the  purest  kind  of  oil  for 
the  table,  and  the  most  agreeable  that  is  known.  It  is 
inferior  to  none,  excepting  the  finest  Nice  or  Lucca  oil.  It 
is  preferable  to  the  second-rate  oil  of  those  places,  and  the 
peculiar  taste  of  olive  oil  may  be  imparted  to  it  by  the 
addition  of  a  small  quantity  of  that  oil  of  superfine  qual- 
ity."    Principles  of  Agriculture,  457. 

The  oil  of  the  poppy  is  bland,  and  not  narcotic.  "It  is 
used  both  for  food  and  light,  and  is  considered  a  fifth  more 
valuable  than  that  of  the  colza.  The  cakes  remaining  after 
the  expression  of  the  oil  are  valuable  for  the  fattening  of 
swine ;  and  the  stalks  for  fuel.  The  ashes  which  remain 
after  burning  it  are  of  the  best  kind  of  manure.  If  the 
seed  be  pressed  in  a  mill  used  for  the  colza,  or  other  oil, 
the  greatest  attention  must  be  paid  to  cleaning  it.  The  oil 
expressed  in  cold  weather  is  much  superior  in  quality  to 
that  obtained  in  warm  weather,  and  the  two  must  not  be 
mixed."  "Henry  Colman's  European  Agriculture,"  vol. 
ii,  538,  Boston,  1849.  See  his  "Report  on  Flemish  Agri- 
culture, for  method  of  growing  the  Poppy,  Colza,  Flax, 
Hemp,  Hop,  Mulberry,  Beet,  Olive,  Grape,"  etc.,  also 
"  Thaer's  Treatise  on  Agriculture." 


In  Thornton's  Family  Herbal  a  very  full  and  interesting 
account  can  be  read  of  the  cultivation  of  poppy  in  England, 
with  the  successful  production  of  opium  in  considerable 
quantity.  Forty  pounds  were  made  in  one  season  by  one 
person.  Boys  and  girls  were  employed  in  incising  the 
bulbs  and  gathering  the  gum.  See  Bene  (Sesamitm)  for 
oils  and  their  expression. 

A  variety  of  the  "common"  or  "opium  poppy"  (P.  som- 
niferum),  indigenous  to  the  warm  and  temperate  parts  of 
Europe  and  Asia,  has  been  introduced,  and  a  brief  notice 
is  contained  in  Patent  Office  Report,  1855,  p.  xxi :  "  It  has 
proved  itself  susceptible  of  easy  cultivation  on  very  rich 
soils.  It  is  well  adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  Middle  and 
Southern  states.  The  flowers  of  the  'white  poppy'  (JPapa- 
ver  s.  alba),  the  variety  with  which  the  experiment  was 
made,  may  be  either  entirely  white  or  red,  or  may  be 
fringed  with  purple,  rose,  or  lilac,  variegated  and  edged 
with  the  same  colors,  but  never  occur  blue  or  yellow,  nor 
mixed  with  these  colors,  each  petal  being  generally  marked 
at  the  bottom  with  a  black  or  purple  spot.  The  seeds  are 
black  in  the  plants  having  purple  flowers,  and  light-colored 
in  those  which  are  white;  although  the  seeds  of  the  latter, 
when  of  spontaneous  growth,  are  sometimes  black.  The 
largest,  heads  which  are  employed  for  medical  or  domestic 
use,  are  obtained  from  the  single  flowered  kind,  not  only 
for  the  purpose  of  extracting  opium,  but  also  on  account  of 
the  bland,  esculent  oil  that  is  expressed  from  the  seeds, 
which  are  simply  emulsive,  and  contain  none  of  the  nar- 
cotic principle.  For  the  latter  purpose,  if  no  other,  its 
culture  in  this  country  is  worthy  of  attention.  Certainly, 
it  is  an  object  worthy  of  public  encouragement,  as  the 
annual  amount  of  opium  imported  into  the  United  States 
is  valued  at  upward  of  $407, 000."  If  this  was  true  some 
years  since,  how  much  more  essential  to  us  is  its  produc- 
tion now  (1862),  when  gum  opium  and  morphine  are  so 
very  difficult  to  obtain.  Occupied  in  researches  upon  these 
subjects  during  the  month  of  June,  under  the  order  of 
the  Surgeon-General,- 'I  was  enabled  to  collect,  in  a  few 


26 

days,  more  than  an  ounce  of  gum  opium,  apparently  of 
very  excellent  quality,  having  all  the  smell  and  taste  of 
opium  (which  I  have  administered  to  the  sick),  from  speci- 
mens of  the  red  poppy  found  growing  in  a  garden  near 
Stateburgh,  S.  C.  I  have  little  doubt  that  all  we-  require 
could  be  gathered  by  ladies  and  children  within  the  Con- 
federate States,  if  only  the  slightest  attention  was  paid  to 
cultivating  the  plants  in  our  gardens.  It  thrives  well,  and 
bears  abundantly.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  the  gum 
which  hardens  after  incising  the  capsules  is  then  ready  for 
use,  and  may  be  prescribed  as  gum  opium,  or  laudanum 
and  paregoric  may  be  made  from  it,  with  alcohol  or  whisky. 
The  poppy,  it  is  said,  produces  better  when  planted  in 
the  fall. 

I  quote  the  following  from  paper  cited  above  : 
The  successful  cultivation  of  the  plant,  however,  requires 
the  provision  of  good  soil,  appropriate  manure,  and  careful 
management,  The  strength  of  the  juice,  according  to  Dr. 
Butler,  of  British  India,  depends  much  upon  the  quantity 
of  moisture  of  the  climate.  A  deficiency  even  of  dew  pre- 
vents the  proper  flow  of  the  peculiar,  narcotic,  milky  juice 
which  abounds  in  every  part  of  the  plant,  while  an  excess, 
besides  washing  off  this  milk,  causes  additional  mischief 
by  separating  the  soluble  from  the  insoluble  parts  of  this 
drug.  This  not  only  deteriorates  its  quality,  but  increases 
the  quantity  of  moisture,  which  must  afterward  be  got  rid 
of.  The  history  of  the  poppy,  as  well  as  that  of  opium — its 
inspissated  juice— are  but  imperfectly  known.  The  oldest 
notices  of  this  plant  are  found  in  the  works  of  the  early 
Greek  physicians,  in  which  mention  is  also  made  of  the 
juice  ;  but  opium  does  not  appear  to  have  been  so  generally 
employed  as  in  modern  times,  as  the  notices  respecting  it 
would  have  been  numerous  and  clear.  In  the  manufacture 
of  opium  in  Persia  or  India,  the  juice  is  partially  extracted, 
together  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  mucilage,  by  de- 
coction. The  liquor  is  strongly  pressed  out,  suffered  to 
settle,  clarified  with  the  whites  of  eggs,  and  evaporated  to 
a  due  consistence  —  yielding  a  fifth  of  the  weight  of  the 


27 

heads  of  extract,  which  possesses  the  virtues  of  opium  in  a 
very  inferior  degree,  and  is  often  employed  to  adulterate 
the  genuine  opium.  The  heads  of  the  poppies  are  gathered 
as  they  ripen ;  and,  as  this  happens  at  different  periods, 
there  are  usually  three  or  four  gatherings  in  a  year.  The 
milky  juice  of  the  poppy  in  its  more  perfect  state,  which  is 
the  case  only  in  warm  climates,  is  extracted  by  incisions 
made  in  the  capsules,  and  simply  evaporated  into  the  con- 
sistence in  which  it  is  known  to  commerce  under  the  name 
of  opium. 

In  Turkey,  the  plants  during  their  growth  are  carefully 
watered,  and  manured  if  necessary ;  the  watering  being- 
more  profuse  as  the  period  of  flowering  approaches,  and 
until  the  heads  are  half  grown,  when  the  operation  is  dis- 
continued, and  the  collection  of  the  opium  commences. 
At  sunset  longitudinal  incisions  are  made  upon  each  half- 
ripe  capsule,  not  sufficiently  deep  to  penetrate  the  internal 
cavity.  The  night  dews  favor  the  exudation  of  the  juice, 
which  is  collected  in  the  morning  by  scraping  it  from  the 
wounds  with  a  small  iron  scoop,  and  depositing  the  whole 
in  an  earthen  pot,  where  it  is  worked  in  the  sunshine  with 
a  wooden  spatula,  until  it  acquires  a  considerable  degree 
of  thickness.  It  is  then  formed  into  cakes  by  the  hands, 
and  placed  in  earthen  pans  to  be  further  exsiccated,  when 
it  is  covered  with  the  leaves  of  the  poppy,  tobacco,  or  some 
other  plant. 

In  obtaining  gum  opium,  the  capsules  are  cut  longitu- 
dinally only  through  the  skin,  though  some  advise  that  it 
should  be  done  from  below  upward.  I  find  longitudinal 
incisions  the  most  economical.  This  is  generally  done  late 
in  the  afternoon,  the  hardened  gum  being  scraped  off  early 
next  morning.  Boys  or  girls  can  easily  attend  to  this.  If 
the  capsules  are  cut  only  on  one  side,  the  same  operation 
may  be  repeated  on  the  other  side,  and  a  fresh  supply  of 
opium  obtained.  A  knife  with  three  or  four  edges,  cutting* 
about  the  twelfth  or  fourteenth  part  of  an  inch,  is  some- 
times used.  If  the  incision  is  too  deep  the  juice  passes 
within  the  poppy  head. 


28 

Prof.  Alston,  of  Edinburgh,  long  ago,  says'  Thornton, 
ascertained  that  opium  of  good  quality  could  be  obtained 
in  Great  Britain,  "having  all  the  color,  consistence,  taste, 
smell,  faculties,  phenomena,"  etc.,  of  opium.  It  has  been 
calculated  by  Mr.  Ball  that  more  than  fifty  pounds  of  opium 
may  be  collected  from  one  statute  acre.  Mr.  Jones,  in 
1794,  in  the  county  of  Middlesex,  England,  presented 
twenty-five  pounds  of  opium  to  the  Society  of  Arts,  made 
by  himself,  which  was  ascertained,  by  chemical  examina- 
tion, to  be  equal  to  the  imported  drug.  The  reader  inter- 
ested in  the  culture  of  the  poppy,  can  find  in  Thornton's 
New  Family  Herbal,  p.  516,  a  pretty  full  statement  of  the 
method  of  culture,  the  collection  of  the  gum,  etc.,  employed 
by  Mr.  Jones.  In  Love's  report  to  the  Society,  he  says : 
"Having  a  tap  root,  their  size  will,  consequently,  be  pro- 
portioned to  the  depth  of  earth  they  are  enabled  to  pene- 
trate. Hence  the  necessity  of  land  that  will  admit  of  deep 
ploughing.  The  fineness  of  the  surface,  too,  is  very  essen- 
tial. As  the  seed  is  small,  and  the  plants  on  their  first 
coming  up  so  exceedingly  tender,  the  bush  harrow  should 
always  be  used  after  those  which  are  commonly  employed." 
They  should  be  so  cultivated  that  the  gatherer  may  not 
disturb  the  plants  in  collecting  the  juice.  Mr.  Jones  is 
also  in  favor  of  autumnal  sowing,  planting  in  the  month  of 
September,  by  which  means  the  plants  attain  sufiicient  size 
to  endure  the  cold  of  winter ;  these  were  also  found  to 
produce  more  opium  than  those  planted  in  March.  The 
scarifications  are  described,  Thornton's  Herbal,  517,  but 
any  one  can  devise  a  knife  for  the  purpose. 

Argemone  Mexicana,  Linn.  D.  C.  Prodrom.  Devil's  fig; 
prickly  poppy  ;  Mexican  poppjr ;  thorn  apple  ;  yellow  this- 
tle. Charleston  district,  grows  around  buildings  in  rich 
spots;  vicinity  of  Charleston;  JSTewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Mer.  aud  de  L.  Diet.  Univ.  de  M.  Med.  i,  395 ;  Journal  de 
Pharmacie  xiv,  73 ;  Bull.  des.  Sci.  Med.  de  Fer.  viii,  210  ; 
De  Cand.  Essai,  116.  The  oil  is  said  by  some  to  be  as 
active  as  that  of  the  Croton  tiglium ;  see  the  Supp.  to  Mer.' 


29 

and  de  L.  1846,  57.  In  Brazil,  the  leaves  are  employed  as 
a  cataplasm  for  driving  off  ulcers.  The  infusion  is  used  in 
Mexico  for  its  marked  sudorific  powers  ;  the  juice  is  found 
serviceable  in  chronic  maladies  of  the  skin.  In  Java,  they 
employ  it  in  inveterate  cutaneous  diseases,  and  as  a  caustic 
in  chancres.  Lind.,  in  his  Kat.  Syst.  Bot.  8,  says  that  the 
seeds  are  narcotic,  and  are  smoked  with  tobacco  ;  Garden- 
er's Mag.  vi,  315.  It  is  administered  in  the  West  Indies  as 
a  substitute  for. ipecacuanha,  and  the  juice  of  the  plant  is 
considered  by  the  native  doctors  of  India  as  a  valuable 
remedy  in  ophthalmia,  either  dropped  in  the  eye  or  rubbed 
on  the  tarsus ;  it  is  also  considered  purgative  and  deobstru- 
ent.  Ainslie,  M.  Med.  Ind.  243  ;  Prince  Maximil.  Travels, 
214;  Aublet,  Hist.  Guiaue.  Merat,  in  the  Supplem.  1846, 
says  that,  in  Brazil,  in  the  Isle  of  France,  and  in  India,  the 
oil  is  regarded  as  a  purgative,  not  unlike  castor  oil,  but 
more  active  —  not,  however,  being  attended  with  griping  ; 
thirty  drops  were  found  equivalent  to  one  ounce  of  castor 
oil.  They  applied  it  in  tinea  capitis,  and  as  an  external  ap- 
plication in  headache  occasioned  by  exposure  to  the  rays  of 
the  sun.  See  Dr.  Schort's  examination  of  it.  Dr.  Muddie 
asserts  that  it  induces  anodyne  effects;  so  much  so,  as  to 
relieve,  in  an  instant,  the  pains  of  colic.  Med.  Bot,  Soc. 
London,  1830 ;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  129.  The  plant  abounds 
in  a  viscid,  milky,  acid  juice,  which,  exposed  to  the  air, 
becomes  yellow,  resembling  gamboge.  The  flowers  are 
said  by  De  Candolle,  Essai,  14,  to  be  employed  in  Mexico 
as  a  hypnotic.  A  thorough  examination  of  this  plant 
might,  well  repay  the  labor  bestowed  upon  it.  It  is,  ap- 
parently, native  in  South  Florida.  Chapman.  "Its  seeds 
are  said  to  yield  a  narcotic  substance  as  powerful  as  opium. 
A  milky,  glutinous  juice  flows  from  the  whole  plant;  turns 
by  exposure  to  the  air  into  a  fine  bright  yellow;  and  when 
reduced  to  the  consistence  of  a  firm  gum,  is  not  distin- 
guishable from  gamboge,  and  has,  we  believe,  been  brought 
into  the  market  under  the  name  of  that  drug.  It  has  sim- 
ilar properties  to  gamboge,  both  as  a  medicine  and  as  a 
pigment;  and  it  has  been  administered  in  very  small  doses 


30 

in  cases  of  dropsy,  jaundice,  cutaneous  eruption,  and  some 
other  diseases."     Wilson,  Rural  Cyc. 

I  collected  a  large  number  of  the  seeds  of  this  plant  near 
Charleston,  and  experimented  with  the  oil  and  tincture, 
but  with  no  definite  results.  A  long  paper  on  the  medical 
properties  of  the  argemone  can  be  found  in  the  Charleston 
Medical  Journal,  among  the  extracts.  I  cannot,  at  present, 
cite  the  volume,  but  it  was  during  the  editorial  manage- 
ment  of  Dr.  Cain  and  myself.  The  tincture  was  particu- 
larly recommended  for  the  relief  of  colic  and  pain. 

Sanguinaria  Canadensis,  Linn.  Ell.  Sk.  Puccoon;  blood- 
root.  Diffused;  vicinity  of  Charleston,  Abbeville,  Rich- 
laud,  and  Fairfield  districts;  collected  in  St.  John's.  El. 
March. 

Drayton's  View  of  S.  C.  72;  Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  404; 
Eberie,  Mat.  Med.  95;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  8;  TL  S.  Disp.  627; 
Royle,  Mat.  Med.  273;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  722; 
London  Med.  Chirurg.  Trans,  vol.  i;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  i,  30; 
Ann.  Lyceum  Nat.  Hist.  New  York,  ii,  250;  New  York 
Med.  and  Phys.  Journal,  i,  No.  2;  Am.  Journal  Med.  Sci. 
N.  S.  ii,  506 ;  Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  iii,  95 ;  Ball  and 
Gar.  Mat.  Med.  208 ;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  i,  75 ;  Schoepf, 
Mat.  Med.  85;  Barton's  Collec.  28;  Trans.  Lond.  Med. 
Soc.  i,  179;  Thacher's  Disp.  331 ;  Cutler,  Mem.  Am.  Acad. 
i,  455  ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  208 ;  Bull,  des 
Sci.  Med.  Fer.  vi,  71 ;  Edinb.  Med.  Journal,  vii,  217  ;  Shec. 
Flora  Carol.  153 ;  Carson's  Illust.  Med.  Bot.  i,  18,  1847. 
The  root  is  narcotic,  emetic,  and  purgative  in  large  doses; 
stimulant,  diaphoretic,  expectorant,  and  tonic  in  small. 
Dr.  Dana  found  a  peculiar  principle  in  it,  called  sangui- 
narina  (Ann.  Lyceum  Nat.  Hist.  New  York).  According 
to  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Donney,  of  Maryland,  in  his 
inaugural  thesis,  twenty-grain  doses  of  the  root  induced 
nausea  and  vomiting,  attended  with  heat  of  stomach,  accel- 
eration of  pulse,  and  sometimes  slight  headache;  the  leaves 
are  said  to  be  endued  with  similar  powers.  "The  seeds 
exert  a  marked  influence  on  the  nervous  system,  occasion- 


31 

ing  torpor,  languor,  disordered  vision,  and  dilatation  of 
pupil."  Dr.  Bard,  of  ]STew  York,  confirms  this  in  his  In- 
aug.  Diss.  It  is  an  acrid  narcotic,  producing  vomiting,  and 
given  in  all  diseases  of  the  raucous  membranes;  employed 
in  catarrh,  typhoid  pneumonia,  croup,  hooping-cough,  and 
in  arresting  the  progress  of  phthisis,  and  also  in  in- 
flammatory rheumatism  and  jaundice.  It  was  known  to 
Schoepf ;  and  Merat  states  that  it  was  serviceable  in 
gonorrhoea.  Dr.  Israel  Allen,  of  New  York,  says  it  acts 
with  all  the  good  effects  of  digitalis,  in  affections  of  the 
lungs — the  infusion  being  preferred  in  these,  as  the  tincture 
does  not  afford  the  active  principle  sufficiently  strong;  he 
adds,  also,  that  it  powerfully  promotes  diaphoresis  in  in- 
flammatorv  rheumatism.  Bigelow  mentions  it  as  an  acrid 
narcotic,  in  small  doses  lessening  the  frequency  of  the 
pulse,  somewhat  analogous  in  its  operation  to  that  of 
digitalis — this,  however,  being  its  secondary  effect.  In  still 
smaller  doses,  it  is  a  stimulating  tonic.  The  powdered 
root,  snuffed  up  the  nose,  is  powerfully  sternutatory;  it  is 
applied  as  an  escharotic  to  fungous  flesh;  and  several 
polypi,  of  the  soft  kind,  were  cured  by  it  in  the  hands 
of  Dr.  Smith,  of  Hanover.  Dr.  Shanks,  of  Tennessee,  also 
destroyed  a  gelatinous  polypus  with  sanguinaria,  after  ex- 
traction had  twice  failed.  Am.  Journal  Med.  Sci.  Oct. 
1842.  The  decoction  has  also  been  used  as  a  wash  to 
ill-conditioned  ulcers.  Dr.  McBride  employed  this  plant  to 
some  extent,  in  his  practice  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  S.  C,  in 
jaundice,  in  doses  of  two  to  six  grains  of  the  root.  He  did 
not  trust  to  it  exclusively,  but  found  it  most  effectual  in 
those  cases  characterized  by  torpor  of  the  liver,  attended 
with  colic  and  yellowness  of  the  skin.  See  his  letter  to 
Dr.  Bigelow\  He  gave,  too,  with  success,  in  hydrothorax, 
the  tincture  in  doses  of  sixty  drops,  three  times  a  day, 
increased  until  nausea  followed  its  employment.  Eberle, 
in  his  wTork  on  Diseases  of  Children,  p.  97,  says  that  the 
powdered  root  is  an  excellent  escharotic  in  ulceration  of 
the  umbilicus.  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  127.  It  is  observed 
by  some  that  the  seeds  are  more  narcotic  than  the  root, 


32 

inducing  symptoms  resembling  those  produced  by  stramo- 
nium. The  dose  of  powder  as  an  emetic,  x-xx  grs. ;  as 
a  stimulating  expectorant,  iii-v  grs.;  or  an  infusion  of 
one-half  ounce  Of  the  root  to  one  pint  of  water  —  dose,  a 
tablespoonful ;  of  the  tincture,  it  is  one-half  a  drachm;  a 
larger  quantity  acts  as  an  emetic.  The  tincture  is  made' 
by  adding  two  ounces  of  the  bruised  root  to  one  pint  of 
alcohol.  Macerate  fourteen  days.  It  is  expectorant  and 
alterative.  Dr.  Donney  says  the  leaves  are  administered 
in  veterinary  practice  in  Maryland,  to  produce  sweating, 
and  to  facilitate  the  shedding  of  hair  in  the  spring.  Dr. 
Griffith  is  convinced  of  its  efficacy  in  this  respect,  and 
he  has  also  given  the  fresh  root  mixed  with  the  food,  at 
intervals,  to  destroy  bots  in  horses — one  or  two  roots  prov- 
ing sufficient.  In  a  communication  from  Dr.  Branch,  of 
Abbeville  district,  S.  C,  he  informs  me  that  he  has  for 
many  years  employed  the  decoction  of  the  root  in  croup; 
he  prefers  it  to  any  other  single  remedy;  and,  by  persisting 
in  it  till  emesis  is  produced,  he  is  of  the  opinion  that  it 
prevents  the  formation  of  the  diptheritic  membrane.  From 
his  own  experience,  he  considers  it  a  specific  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  disease,  preferring,  for  infants,  the  infusion  to 
the  tincture,  as  the  difficulty  of  exciting  vomiting  frequent- 
ly renders  it  necessary  to  give  more  of  the  alcohol  than 
would  be  prudent.  He  finds  it  convenient,  when  called 
to  a  case  of  croup,  to  add  to  thirty  grains  of  the  powdered, 
or  bruised  root,  a  teacupful  of  boiling  water,  allowing  it  to 
steep  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  over  the  fire,  when  it  may 
be  given  in  teaspoonful  doses,  frequently  repeated,  until 
vomiting  is  induced;  if  the  patient  is  relieved,  continue  it 
in  doses  short  of  the  emetic  point,  every  hour  or  two, 
increasing  it  in  frequency  and  amount  should  the  symp- 
toms require  it.  Dr.  B.  is  of  the  opinion  that  it  owes  its 
value  to  three  qualities  combined:  an  acrid,  an  emetic, 
and  a  deobstruent  property  —  the  latter  acting  on  the  glan- 
dular system.  It  possesses,  also,  the  peculiar  advantage  of 
not  producing  bad  efiects  by  accumulation ;  a  teacupful  not 
debilitating  any  more  than  a  smaller  quantity,  and  neither 


inducing  prostration,  .which,  in  the  disease  in  question,  is 
an  important  consideration.  If  the  patient's  skin  is  hot 
and  dry,  the  addition  of  a  few  grains  of  ipecacuanha  is 
advised.  The  experience  of  Dr.  Branch  corroborates  that 
of  others  respecting  the  value  of  the  tincture,  in  doses  of 
ten  to  fifteen  drops,  given  three  or  four  times  a  day,  as  an 
expectorant  in  chronic  cough.  In  emetic  doses,  it  proves 
a  useful  promoter  of  expectoration  in  pneumonia.  The 
decoction  of  the  root,  taken  in  small  doses,  may  be  used 
wherever  a  nauseaut  and  expectorant  is  required,  and  will 
aid  in  preventing  the  advance  of  colds,  croup,  pneumonia, 
etc.  The  juice  of  the  root  was  used  by  the  Indians  as  a 
red  pigment,  and  it  has  been  applied  to  the  arts.  Dr. 
Donney  says  that  the  sulph.  of  alumina  will  partially  fix 
the  color  in  woollen  stuffs,  and  the  murio.  sulph.  of  lead  in 
cotton  and  linen.  The  stain,  applied  to  the  unbroken  skin, 
is  not  indelible.  Lawson,  in  his  account  of  Carolina,  says, 
that  the  Puccoon  is  Batschia  canescens  (Lithospermum  canes- 
cens),  growing  in  upper  districts.  See  Pivrsh's  Flora  and 
Croom's  Catalogue. 

The  above  was  contained  in  my  report  on  Med.  Botany 
of  S.  C,  published  in  1849.  Since  that  period,  I  have  used 
the  tinct.  of  sanguinaria  largely  during  five  years  attend- 
ance upon  the  Marine  Hospital,  and  in  private  practice.  I 
employ  no  vegetable  substance  so  constantly,  as  an  addition 
to  cough  mixtures,  and  as  an  alterative  and  tonic,  when  I 
think  the  functions  of  the  liver  not  sufficiently  active.  We 
must  avoid  adding  too  much  of  the  tincture  to  any  mix- 
ture, lest  it  convert  it  into  a  nauseaut  or  emetic.  Without 
being  able  to  state  precisely  why,  I  can  only  say  that  it  has 
proved  a  highly  satisfactory  agent  in  my  hands  as  a  tonic, 
alterative,  and  expectorant.  Though  paying  some  atten- 
tion to  'medicinal  plants,  I  use  habitually  very  few  of  them, 
viz:  the  sanguinaria,  hoarhound,  blackberry  root,  and  a 
few  others.  My  endeavor  is  not  so  much  to  avoid  a  great 
multiplicity  of  agents,  as  to  do  no  injury  with  any.  The 
more  full  and  accurate  our  knowledge,  the  more  skilful  is 


34 

our  application,  whether  the  substances  used  be  vegetable 
or  mineral. 

Fumaria  officinalis,  Linn.  Hook.  Fl.  Bo.,  Fumitory.  Natu- 
ral, says  Elliott,  on  John's  island,  and  at  Mr.  Middleton's 
on  Ashley  river. 

This  plant  received  great  attention  in  former  times,  and 
was  almost  universally  employed.  Pliny  speaks  of  it,  lib. 
25,  c.  13.  According  to  Hoffman  and  Boerhaave,  the  juice 
taken  in  large  doses  is  diuretic  and  laxative.  Great  confi- 
dence was  placed  in  its  virtues  by  Cullen.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  77. 
In  the  Deni.  Elem.  de  Bot.,  it  is  referred  to  as  a  diuretic 
and  detersive  aperient,  employed  as  a  purifier  of  the  blood 
in  scrofulous  and  cutaneous  diseases.  It  was  administered 
in  amenorrhoea,  loss  of  appetite,  and  hypochondriacal  affec- 
tions ;  Fl.  Scotica,  379.  Boerhaave  frequently  prescribed 
it  in  jaundice  and  bilious  colics.  Thornton,  in  his  Fam. 
Herb.  628,  asserts  that  he  had  experienced  its  value  in 
cutaneous  diseases.  Its  acrimonious  property  is  volatile ; 
hence,  it  should  be  given  in  whey.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet. 
de  M.  Med.  iii,  310;  Fl.  Med.  iv,  153.  "A  marked  bitter, 
which  increases  on  being  dried."  A  popular  depurative 
remedy,  which  augments  the  action  of  the  organs,  and 
therefore  useful  in  the  diseases  specified.  Merat  says,  it 
was  very  generally  allowed  to  be  a  specific  in  elephantiasis, 
acting  without  any  evacuation  or  appreciable  effect.  Bar- 
bier,  M.  Med.  381  ;  IT.  S.  Disp.  1254.  An  extract  of  the 
expressed  juice,  or  a  decoction,  throws  out  upon  its  surface 
a  copious  saline  efflorescence.  "The  plant  indeed  abounds 
in  saline  substances."  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  118.  It  is  still 
employed  in  France ;  given  in  the  form  of  decoction,  ex- 
tract, s\Trup,  or  expressed  juice. 

In  observing  the  enormous  amount  of  potash  said  by  Ure 
to  exist  in  the  ashes  of  this  plant  (fourth  London  edition, 
1853),  I  can  now  well  understand  some  of  the  statements 
made  above,  which  I  had  published  several  years  siuce  in 
my  report  to  the  American  Medical  Association.      It  is 


35 

another  evidence  of  the  light  thrown  upon  any  subject  by 
facts  gathered  from  different  sources  and  by  independent 
inquirers.  See  article  "Potash."  Wormwood,  artemisia, 
tobacco,  corn  and  rice  stalks,  etc.,  contain  potash  in  large 
proportion.  The  two  first  mentioned  in  enormous  amount 
relatively. 

Nymph^aceje.     [The  Water  Lily  Tribe.) 

This  order  is  generally  considered  antaphrodisiac,  seda- 
tive, and  narcotic.  Their  stems  are  bitter  and  astringent; 
they  contain  a  considerable  quantity  of  fecula,  and,  after 
repeated  washings,  are  capable  of  being  used  for  food. 

Nyynphcea  odorata,  Ait.  Kew.  and  Ph.  Sweet-scented 
water-lily ;  pond-lily.  Diffused  in  lower  country  of  South 
Carolina  ;  roots  immersed.     Newbern.     Fl.  April. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1280;  Mat.  Veg.  Pract.  201;  Thompson's 
Steam  Pract.  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  132 ;  Cutler,  Am.  Trans. 
i,  456.  "An  antaphrodisiac."  The  root  possesses  a  high 
degree  of  astringency,  containing,  according  to  Dr.  Bige- 
low,  tannin  and  gallic  acid.  It  is  a  popular  remedy  in 
bowel  complaints  ;  and  is  used  as  an  astringent  in  gleet, 
fluor  albus,  etc.  It  also  forms  an  excellent  demulcent 
poultice  for  ulcers.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv, 
643 ;  Bull.  des.  Sci.  Med.  iii,  74.  Ainslie,  in  his  Mat.  Med. 
Ind.  ii,  381,  says  that,  in  India,  the}7  prepare  with  it  a  re- 
freshing liniment  for  the  head.  Thompson  employed  this 
plant  in  the  steam  practice,  and  Matson  recommends  it  as 
a  gargle  in  sore  throats. 

Cephalotace^;. 

We  insert  this  order,  the  properties  of  which  are  un- 
known, merely  to  introduce  the  non-medicinal,  but  very 
remarkable  plant,  the 

DioiKEa  muscijmla,  Ellis,  L.  Venus  fly-trap.  Gen.  C.  C. 
Pinckney  informed  Mr.  Elliott  of  the  only  locality  of  this 


30 

interesting  plant  in  this  state,  viz. :  on  the  margin  of  the 
Santee  river,  between  Lynch's  ferry  and  the  sea,  particu- 
larly at  Collins'  and  Bowman's  bridges.  ISTewbern.  Fl. 
May.  Its  leaves  possess  great  sensibility,  and  are  prehen- 
sile: closing  up  and  confining  insects  and  any  foreign  body 
which  comes  in  contact  with  it.  See  Curtis,  in  Bost.  Journal 
Nat.  Hist,  i,  p.  123,  the  article  "Sarracenia"  infra,  and 
authors  passim.  "  Miraculum  naturae  !  folia  triloba,  radi- 
calia,  ciliata,  sensibilia,  couduplicanda,  insecta  incarceranda. 
Ellis,  Epist.  ad  Linnmtm.     Groom's  Cat. 

Magistoltace^e.     (The  Magnolia  Tribe.) 

This  order  is  characterized  by  the  possession  of  a  bitter 
tonic  taste,  and  fragrant  flowers ;  the  latter  generally  pro- 
ducing a  decided  action  upon  the  nerves. 

Magnolia  glauca,  L.  Bay;  beaver  tree;  swamp-laurel. 
Diffused  in  damp  pine  lands.  Charleston;  Newbern.  Fl. 
June. 

Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  67 ;  Bart,  i,  77 ;  U.  8.  Disp.  442 ; 
Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  733 ;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  248;  Ball  and 
Gar.  189 ;  Michaux,  X.  Am.  Sylvia,  ii,  8 ;  Kalm's  Travels, 
i,  205 ;  Humphries,  Med.  Comment,  xviii ;  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  193;  Marshall's  Arbust.  83;  Bart. 
Mat.  Med.  46 ;  Price,  Inaug.  Diss.  Phil.  1812 ;  Lind.  Nat. 
Syst.  18 ;  Am.  Herbal,  200 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  97.  It  is 
a  stimulant,  aromatic  tonic,  with  considerable  diaphoretic 
powers.  The  leaves,  steeped  in  brandy,  or  a  decoction  of 
them,  are  valuable  in  pectoral  affections,  recent  cold,  etc. 
The  tincture,  made  by  macerating  the  fresh  cones  and 
seeds,  or  bark  of  root,  in  brandy,  which  best  extracts  its 
virtues,  is  much  used  as  a  popular  remedy  in  rheumatism  ; 
and,  according  to  Barton,  in  inflammatory  gout.  Lindley 
refers  to  it  as  a  valuable  tonic,  but  it  is  said  to  be  destitute 
of  tannin  or  gallic  acid.  The  bark  of  the  root,  according 
to  Griffith,  was  employed  by  Indians  to  fulfil  a  variety 
of  indications;  the  warm  decoction  acts  as  a  gentle  laxa- 


87 

tive,  and  subsequently  as  a  sudorific,  whilst  the  cold  decoc- 
tion, powder  of,  or  tincture,  is  tonic.  These  have  proved 
very  beneficial  in  the  hands  of  regular  practitioners  in  the 
treatment  of  remittents  of  a  typhoid  character.  It  is  sup- 
posed by  many  residing  in  the  lower  portions  of  this  state 
that  this  tree  prevents  the  water  of  bogs  and  galls  from 
generating  malaria.  It  certainly  seems  that  the  water  is 
much  clearer  in  which  the  ba}7  tree  grows.* 

*  In  that  old  work  on  Herbs,  entitled  the  "English  Physician,"  by  Nicholas 
Culpepper,  gentleman,  "Student  in  Physic  and  Astrology,"  we  have  met  with  a 
great  deal  concerning  the  employment  of  herbs  in  medicine  ;  but,  from  the  absence 
of  botanical  terms,  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain,  in  many  cases,  what  species  are 
intended.  In  order  to  show  the  surprisingly  superstitious  credence  then  attached 
to  the  influence  of  astrology,  iu  determining  the  virtues  of,  and  the  times  proper 
for  gathering  plants,  and  also  the  diversity  of  qualities  attributed  to  them,  we  will 
extract  a  portion  of  what  Culpepper  says  of  the  "Bay  Tree."  "Government  and 
Virtues. — That  it  is  a  Tree  of  the  Sun,  and  under  the  celestial  Sign  Leo,  and  re- 
sisteth  Witchcraft  very  potently,  as  also  all  the  Evils  old  Saturn  can  do  to  the  Body 
of  Man,  and  they  are  not  a  few;  for  it  is  the  Speech  of  one,  and  I  am  mistaken  if 
it  were  not  Mezaldus,  that  neither  Witch  nor  Devil,  Thunder  nor  Lightning,  will 
hurt  a  Man  in  the  Place  where  a  Bay  Tree  is.  Galen  said  that  the  Leaves  or  Bark 
do  dry  and  heal  very  much,  and  the  Berries  more  than  the  Leaves  ;  the  Bark  of 
the  Root  is  less  sharp  and  hot,  but  more  bitter,  and  hath  some  Astriction  withal, 
whereby  it  is  effectual  to  break  the  Stone,  and  good  to  open  Obstructions  of  the 
Liver,  Spleen,  and  other  inward  Parts,  which  bring  the  Dropsy,  Jaundice,  etc. 
The  Berries  are  very  effectual  against  all  poison  of  venomous  Creatures,  and  the 
Sting  of  Wasps  and  Bees,  as  also  against  the  Pestilence,  and  other  infectious  Dis- 
eases, and  therefore  put  into  sundry  Treacles  for  the  purpose.  They,  likewise, 
procure  Women's  Courses,  and  seven  of  them  given  to  a  Woman  in  Sore  Travel  of 
Child-birth  do  cause  a  speedy  Delivery,  and  expel  the  after-birth,  and  therefore  are 
not  to  be  taken  by  such  as  have  not  gone  their  Time,  lest  they  procure  Abortion,  or 
cause  Labour  too  soon.  They  wonderfully  help  all  cold  and  rheumatic  Distilla- 
tions from  the  Brain  to  the  Eyes.  Lungs,  or  other  Parts,  and  being  made  into  an 
Electuary  with  Honey,  do  help  the  Consumption,  Old  Coughs,  Shortness  of  Breath, 
and  thin  Rheums,  as  also  the  Megrim.  They  mightily  expel  the  Wind,  and  pro- 
voke Urines,  help  the  Mother,  and  kill  the  Worms.  The  Leaves  also  work  the  like 
Effects;  a  Bath  of  the  Decoction  of  the  Leaves  and  Berries  is  singularly  good  for 
Women  to  sit  in  that  arte  troubled  with  the  Mother,  or  the  Diseases  thereof,  or  the 
stoppings  of  their  Courses,  or  for  the  Diseases  of  the  Bladder,  Pains  in  the  Bowels 
by  Wind,  and  stopping  of  Urine  ;  a  Decoction,  etc.,  settleth  the  Palate  of  the 
Mouth  in  its  Place.  The  Oil  made  of  the  Berries  is  very  comfortable.  All  Cold 
Griefs  of  the  Joints,  Nerves,  Arteries,  Stomach,  Belly,  or  Womb,  and  helpeth  Pal- 
sies, Convulsions,  Cramps,  Aches,  Tremblings,  and  Numbness  in  any  Part,  Weari- 
ness also,  and  Pains  that  come  by  Sore  Travelling.  *  *  *  *  Pains  in  the 
Ears  are  also  cured  by  dropping  in  some  of  the  Oil,  or  by  receiving  into  the  Ears 
the  Fume  of  the  Decoction  of  the  Berries  through  a  Funnel.  It  takes  away  the 
Marks  of  Bruises  ;  it  helpeth  also  the  Itch,  Scabs,  and  Weals  in  the  Skin,"  etc. 


.        38 

Magnolia  grandiflora,  L.  Magnolia.  This  magnificent  tree 
grows  abundantly  along  the  sea-coast,  and  in  the  streets  of 
Charleston.  Found  sparingly  in  St.  .John's,  Berkley,  forty- 
five  miles  from  the  ocean;  grows  in  Georgia  also.  FL 
May. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  193 ;  Pe.  Mat.  Med. 
and  Therap.  ii,  734 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  444.  The  medicinal  and 
chemical  properties  of  these  plants  are  supposed  .to  be  iden- 
tical. See  M.  glauca.  Mr.  Proctor,  in  his  analysis,  Am. 
Journal  Pharm.  xiv,  95,  and  viii,  85,  found  in  this  species 
volatile  oil,  resin,  and  a  crystallizable  principle  analogous 
to  the  liriodendrine  of  Prof.  Emmet,  obtained  from  the  L. 
tulipifera  growing  in  this  state  (vide  L.  tulip.)  Merat  says 
that  in  Mexico  the  seeds  are  employed  with  success  in 
paralysis.     Loc.  sit.  sup. 

Magnolia  acuminata,  Linn.  Mich.  Cucumber  tree.  Moun- 
tainous districts  ;  grows  in  Georgia  also.      Fl.  July. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  443 ;  Mx.  X.  Am.  Sylvia,  ii,  12 ;  Lind.  STat. 
Syst.  16.  Lindley  speaks  particularly  of  the  cones  of  this 
species  being  employed  in  the  form  of  a  spirituous  tincture 
in  rheumatic  affections.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med. 
iv,  193 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  98.  Used  as  a  prophylactic  in 
autumnal  fevers. 

The  wood  is  soft,  fine  grained,  and  susceptible  of  a  bril- 
liant polish.  It  is  sometimes  sawed  into  boards,  and  used 
in  the  interior  of  wooden  houses. 

The  flowers  of  most  magnolias  exhale  a  strong  aromatic 
fragrance  ;  the  bark  of  all  possesses  a  combination  of  bitter 
and  hotly  aromatic  properties,  without  astringency,  and 
that  of  many  acts  as  a  powerful  medicine,  in  a  similar  way 
to  Peruvian  bark  and  Winter's  bark.    Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. 

Magnolia  umbrella.  Lam.  ^      LTmbrella  tree. 

"  tripetala,  Linn,  and  Ell.  Sk.  j  Rare.  Grows  on 
the  sea-coast  in  rich  soils  ;  ISTewbern.     Fl.  June. 

U.  S.  Disp.  443.  It  has  a  warm,  aromatic  odor,  and  is 
possessed  of  similar  properties  with  the  above.     Mx.  IS". 


39 

Am.  Sylvia,  ii,  19;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  16.  According  to  Be 
Cand.  and  Merat,  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  193,  it  acts  so  pow- 
erfully on  the  nerves  as  to  induce  sickness  and  headache. 

Magnolia  macrophylla.  Mx.  and  Ell.  Sk.  Grows  on  the 
mountains  of  South  Carolina.  It  possesses  the  most  mag- 
nificent foliage  and  flowers  of  any  of  our  forest  trees  ;  the 
former  are  a  foot  or  two  in  length  ;  and  the  latter  one  foot 
in  diameter.  For  its  medicinal  properties,  see  M.  glauca. 
See,  also,  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  98,  and  Ell.  Sk.  of  Bot.  of 
S.  C. 

Illicium  Floridanum  and  panrifiorum.  Anise  seed  tree. 
These  plants  have  the  smell  of  anise  seed,  and  should  be 
examined. 

Liriodendron  luUpifera,  L.  Tulip  tree;  white  wood;  pop- 
lar. Grows  in  swamps ;  diffused.  Collected  in  St.  John's, 
Charleston  district ;  Columbia;  Newbern.     El.  June. 

Eberle,  Mat.  Med,  ii,  308;  U.  S.  Disp.  432;  Rush,  in 
Trans.  Phil.  Coll.  Phy.  1798;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  743; 
younger  Michaux  on  Eorest  Trees  of  N.  America  ;  Clay- 
ton, Phil.  Trans.  8  ;  Carey's  Am.  Museum,  12  ;  Barton's 
Collec.  Form.  Mat.  Med.  14;  Thacher's  U.  S.  Disp.;  Big. 
Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  107;  Barton,  i,  92;  Ball.  Gar.  Mat.  Med. 
190 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  130  ;  Annal.  de 
Chimie,  lxxx,  215;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.;  Rogers'  Inaug. 
Diss.  1802.  This  plant  is  tonic,  diuretic,  and  diaphoretic, 
and  is  generally  considered  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  the 
substitutes  for  Peruvian  bark.  It  has  been  employed  as  a 
warm  sudorific  in  the  treatment  of  chronic  rheumatism  and 
gout;  and  Bigelow  thinks  it  valuable  as  a  stomachic.  It 
was  administered  by  Dr.  Young  and  himself,  combined 
with  laudanum,  in  hysteria,  and  the  former  says  that  in  all 
the  materia  medica  he  does  not  know  of  a  more  certain, 
speedy,  and  effectual  remedy  for  that  disease.  See  his  let- 
ter to  Governor  Clayton.  "  He  has  never  known  it  to  fail 
in  a  single  case  of  worms."     Am.  Museum,  xii;  Griffith, 


40 

Med.  Bot,  98.  "Rafinesque  says  the  seeds  are  laxative,  and 
the  leaves  are  used  as  an  external  application  for  headache; 
they  are  washed  and  applied  to  the  forehead.  Merat  states 
that  it  is  useful  in  phthisis,  and  he  also  refers  to  its  vermi- 
fuge properties  ;  employed  in  relaxed  states  of  the  stomach 
[reldchcmens)  and  in  the  advanced  stages  of  dj7sentery;  this 
is  corroborated  by  Thacher,  Anc.  Journal  de  Med.  lxx,  530; 
J.  C.  Mayer,  Mem.  on  L.  tulipifera,  in  the  Mem  de  l'Acad. 
de  Berlin,  1796 ;  Ruch.  Mem.  sur  le  tulipier,  Tilloch's 
Magazine;  Hildebrande,  Essai  sur  un  nouveau  succedane 
du  quinquina  in  Ann.  de  Chim.  lxvi,  201 ;  Carminati  sur 
les  proprieties  medicinales  de  l'ecorce  de  tulipier.  Its  analy- 
sis, etc.,  in  the  Mem.  of  Roy.  Inst.  Lombard}-,  iii,  4;  in  the 
Supplem.  to  Mer.  Diet.  1846,436.  M.  Bouchardat  advises, 
as  the  most  preferable  mode  of  exhibiting  it  in  fevers,  the 
wine  of  the  tulip,  made  with  the  bark  in  equal  parts  of 
alcohol,  to  which  he  adds  of  white  wine  seven  or  eight 
times  the  amount  of  the  alcoholic  infusion.  Bull,  de 
Therap.  xix,  246;  S.  Cubiere's  Hist.  Tulip.  Paris,  1800;  see 
Tract,  of  Bouchardat  in  Ann.  de  Therap.  75,  1841.  Dr. 
J.  P.  Emmet,  in  his  Analysis  in  the  Phil.  Journal  Pharm. 
iii,  5,  announced  the  discovery  of  a  new  principle  in  it — the 
liriodendrine.  This  is  solid,  brittle,  and  inodorous  at  40°, 
fusible  at  180°,  and  volatile  at  270°.  It  is  soluble  in  alco- 
hol, thought  to  be  analogous  to  camphor,  and  to  the  princi- 
ple found  in  the  magnolia  grandiilora,  and  to  consist  of  a 
resin  and  a  volatile  oil;  hence  the  alcoholic  tincture  is  pref- 
erable. The  powdered  bark  in  syrup  is  given  to  children 
who  are  liable  to  convulsions  from  worms,  to  promote  their 
expulsion,  and  to  strengthen  the  tone  of  the  digestive 
organs.  The  bark  should  be  pulverized  and  bottled.  We 
have  employed  a  strong  infusion  of  the  bark  and  root  of 
this  plant  as  an  anti-intermittent,  among  a  number  of 
negroes,  and  are  much  pleased  with  its  efficacy.  See  the 
Podophyllum  peltatum,  in  conjunction  with  which  it  was 
usually  given.  In  Virginia,  the  decoction  of  the  bark,  with 
that  of  the  Cornus  Florida  (dogwood)  and  the  Prinos  ver- 
ticillatus,  is  given  to  horses  affected  with  the  bots.     The 


41 

poplar  bark  powdered  is  a  valuable  remedy  as  a  tonic  for 
horses.  An  infusion  may  be  given  to  a  horse,  or  the  bark 
placed  in  his  trough  to  be  chewed.  It  gives  tone  to  the 
digestive  organs  when  they  are  "  off  their  feed,"  in  veter- 
inary  or  jockey  parlance.  This  tree  I  notice  in  unusual 
abundance  along  the  line  of  railroad  from  Kingsville  to 
Columbia,  S.  C;  also  in  Spartanburg  district,  S.  C,  on  the 
banks  of  streams.  Dose  of  bark  xx-xxx  grs.  It  is  a 
stimulant  tonic,  slightly  diaphoretic.  The  infusion  or 
decoction  is  made  in  the  proportion  of  an  ounce  to  a  pint 
of  water;  dose  one  or  two  fluid  ounces.  Dose  of  the  satu- 
rated tincture  a  fluid  drachm.  The  wood  is  durable  when 
not  exposed  to  the  weather — it  is  smooth,  line  grained,  and 
flexible;  employed  for  various  mechanical  purposes  —  for 
carving  and  ornamental  work ;  for  making  carriage  and 
door  panels,  chairs,  cabinets,  etc.  Mx.  Forest  Trees  of 
America. 

ANONACEiE.     {The  Papain  Tribe.) 

The  plants  of  this  order  generally  possess  a  powerful 
aromatic  taste  and  smell  in  all  the  parts. 

Uvaria  triloba,  T.  and  Gray.  )       Papaw ;    custard   apple. 

Anona       "       Linn.  >  Grows  in  rich  soils  along 

Asimina    "       Ell.  Sk.  )  streams.  We  have  observed 

it  in  Fairfield  and  Spartanburg  districts,  S.  C,  and  collected 
it  in  St.  John's;  Mr.  Elliott  says  it  is  found  at  Beck's 
ferry,  Savannah  river.     Fl.  May. 

Diet,  de  Mat.  Med.  par  Mer.  and  de  L.  torn,  i,  311.  The 
rind  of  the  fruit  of  the  A.  triloba  of  Linn,  possesses  a  very 
active  acid ;  pulp  sometimes  employed  as  a  topical  applica- 
tion in  ulcers.  Lind.  JSTat.  Syst.  Bot.  69.  "Juice  of  unripe 
fruit  is  a  powerful  and  efficient  vermifuge ;  the  powder  of 
the  seeds  answers  the  same  purpose ;  a  principal  constituent 
of  the  juice  is  fibrine  —  a  product  supposed  peculiar  to  ani- 
mal substances  and  to  fungi."  "The  tree  has,  moreover, 
the  property  of  rendering  the  toughest  animal  substances 


42 

tender  by  causing  a  separation  of  the  muscular  fibre — its 
very  vapor  even  does  this;  newly  killed  meat  suspended 
over  the  leaves,  and  even  old  hogs  and  poultry,  when  fed 
on  the  leaves  and  fruit,  become  'tender  in  a  few  hours !' ' 
Lind.  loc.  cit.  .The  sap  (of  Papaw  tree,  Ca.rica  papaya), 
which  is  extracted  from  the  fruit  by  incision,  is  white  and 
excessively  viscous.  In  a  specimen  from  the  Isle  of  France, 
Vauquelin  found  a  matter  having  the  chemical  properties 
of  animal  albumen,  aud  lastly,  fatty  matter.  Boussingault, 
This  tree  can  be  found  in  many  parts  of  the  state,  and  we 
would  invite  examination  into  these  very  curious  properties. 
For  an  excellent  description  of  the  papaw,  see  Hooker  in 
the  Bot.  Magazine,  898.  At  Pittsburgh,  a  spirituous  licpior 
has  been  made  from  the  fruit.  Michaux  notices  that  the 
cellular  integument  of  the  bark,  and  particularly  that  of  the 
roots,  exhales  in  summer  a  nauseous  odor  so  strong  as  to 
occasion  sickness  if.  respired  in  confined  air.    Am.  Sylva. 

Umbellifer.s:.     (The  Umbelliferous  Tribe.) 

This  order  is  nearly  related  to  the  Ranunculacese,  and  is 
generally  found  in  cold  countries,  and  on  the  mountains  of 
tropical  regions.  The  plants  belonging  to  it  are  often 
poisonous,  some  virulently  so ;  others  are  nutritive  and 
wholesome ;  of  the  former,  the  hemlock  is  an  example ;  of 
the  latter,  the  celery  and  parsley. 

Hydrocot[ile  umbellata,  L.  Grows  in  bogs  and  wet  marshes ; 
collected  in  St.  John's ;  vicinity  of  Charleston ;  Xewbern. 
Fl.  May. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  torn,  iii,  560.  Employed 
with  great  efficacy  in  Brazil  against  hypochondriacism. 
According  to  one  author,  the  root  is  so  valuable  in  diseases 
of  the  kidney  as  not  to  be  replaced  by  any  other  medicines. 
It  is  emetic,  diuretic,  and  vulnerary.  We  see  no  mention 
of  it  in  the  English  or  American  works. 

Sanicula  Marylandica,  L.  Sanicle.  Diffused;  grows  in 
shady  spots;  collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston ; 
Xewbern.     Fl.  Jul  v. 


43 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  201.  The  Indians 
used  it  as  we  do  sarsaparilla  in  syphilis,  and  also  in  diseases 
of  the  lungs. 

Eryngium  aquaticum,  L.  (E.  YiicccefoUum  of  Mx.)  Button 
snakeroot.  Damp  pine  lands ;  diffused ;  collected  in  St. 
John's;  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  268 ;  Ell.  Bot.  i,  343 ;  Barton's  Collec. 
i,  3 ;  Frost's  Elems.  280 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  318 ;  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  145;  Shec.  Flora  Carol,  art.  Button 
snakeroot,  310,  545.  The  decoction  is  diaphoretic,  expecto- 
rant, and  sometimes  emetic.  Elliott  says  it  is  preferred  by 
some  physicians  to  the  seneka  snakeroot.  Barton,  in  his 
Collections,  states  that  it  is  allied  to  the  contrayerva  of  the 
shops.  This  plant  is  possessed  of  undoubted  diuretic  pow- 
ers, and  in  combination  with  the  Iris  versicolor  (blue  flag). 
was  much  employed  by  Dr.  McBride,  of  South  Carolina,  in 
dropsy.  (See  I,  versic.)  Great  use  is  frequently  made  of 
them  in  popular  practice.  Shec.  in  his  Flora  Carol.  310, 
states  that  the  decoction  and  tincture  are  given  with  benefit 
in  pleurisies,  colds,  and  most  of  the  inflammatory  diseases 
of  the  mucous  passages.  It  is  also  said  to  act  as  an 
escharotic  —  keeping  down  fungus  flesh,  and  preventing 
mortification.  The  root,  when  chewed,  sensibly  excites  a 
flow  of  saliva.  The  E.  aromaticum,  an  aromatic  species, 
grows  in  East  and  South  Florida.  Baldwin  in  Chapman's 
Flora.  The  E.  maratimam,  of  England,  penetrates  the 
soil  to  the  depth  of  twenty  teet. 

Eryngium  fostidum,  L.  Fever  weed.  Elliott  is  doubtful 
whether  this  plant  comes  within  the  limits  prescribed  to 
us;  it  has,  however,  been  noticed  by  writers  as  a  S.  C. 
species,  and  Michaux  found  it  in  Florida.  T.  and  Gray  are 
of  the  opinion  that  it  is  not  a  native  of  the  United  States. 
Vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bachman  ;  Shec.  Flora.  Carol.  54. 
"An  admirable  febrifuge."  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  iii,  145;  Aublet,  i,  284.  liotboll  says  it  is  a  sedative, 
alterative,   and  febrifuge.     Sprengel,  Hist,   de  la  M6d.  v, 


44 

467 ;  Lind.  Species,  PI.  336.     JSTot  included  in  Chapman's 
Flora. 

Aconitum  uncinatum,  L.  Aconite,  monks-hood,  wolfsbane. 
Shady  banks  of  streams  among  the  mountains  of  Confed- 
erate States,  and  northward. 

Most  of  the  aconites,  particularly  those  with  blue  flowers, 
are  highly  poisonous.  This  species  should  be  carefully 
experimented  with,  as  it  may  be  made  to  supply  the  tinc- 
ture of  aconite  and  aconita  for  medicinal  and  chemical 
purposes.  The  active  principle  is  "  the  most  virulent  poi- 
son known,  not  excepting  prussic  acid,  as  prepared  by 
Moison,  of  London.  1-50  of  a  grain  has  endangered  life." 
Wilson's  Rural  Encyc.  See  also  works  on  Materia  Medica. 
"  The  1-100  part  of  a  grain  has  produced  a  feeling  of 
numbness,  weight,  and  constriction,  which  has  lasted  a 
whole  day."  The  tincture  of  aconite  is  more  manageable, 
and  is  useful  as  an  external  anaesthetic  in  frontal  neuralgia, 
local  pains,  etc.  No  remedy,  save  chloroform,  equals  it 
when  applied  locally  for  the  relief  of  pain.  The  tincture 
may  be  combined  with  oil  and  chloroform,  as  a  liniment  in 
rheumatism. 

Cieuta  maculaia,  L.  Walt.  FL,  Carolina.  Am.  hemlock; 
snake-weed  ;  beaver  poison.  Grows  in  bogs  and  inundated 
land;  collected  in  St.  John's ;  Charleston:  JSTewbern.  Fl. 
Aug. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  1242;  Barton's  Collec.  1846;  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  282;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  i,  -125; 
Schcepf,  M.  Med.  36 ;  Stockbridge,  iST.  England  Journal, 
iii,  334 ;  Mitchell,  Ely,  and  Muhlenburg,  Med.  Repos.  xvii, 
303 ;  Stearns,  Am.  Herbal,  172.  The  leaves,  flowers,  and 
seeds  are  resolvent,  powerfully  narcotic,  sedative,  and  ano- 
dyne. It  resembles  conium  in  its  effects,  and  is  used  as  a 
substitute  for  it.  "It  relieves  pain  from  cancer  more  pow- 
erfully than  opium ;"  employed  in  ill-conditioned  ulcers, 
gleets,  painful  uterine  discharges,  venereal  ulcers,  epilep- 
sies, and  convulsions ;  it  promotes  perspiration  and  urine, 


and,  externally  applied,  discusses  hard  tumours.  It  is 
closely  analogous  to  the  European  species,  the  C.  virosa; 
Bigelow  says  identical  with  it.  The  dose  of  the  leaves  in 
powder  is  one  to  two  grains  three  times  a  day,  in  infusion, 
or  one  grain  of  the  extract,  increasing  it  as  the  system 
becomes  tolerant.  This  plant  has  repeatedly  occasioned 
the  death  of  those  mistaking  it  for  others.  An  active 
emetic,  to  which  an  infusion  of  galls  may  be  added;  will 
generally  give  relief.  The  vegetable  acids,  lemon  juice, 
and  vinegar,  neutralize  its  effects ;  and  strong  tea  and  cof- 
fee are  the  best  antidotes  for  the  stupor  which  follows  its 
employment. 

Ajpium  graveolens.  Celery.  Ex.  cult.  Milne,  Ind.  Bot. 
420.  The  fresh  roots,  observes  Dr.  Lewis,  when  produced 
in  their  native  water  soil,  are  supposed  to  partake  of  the 
ill  quality  of  those  of  the  hemlock  kind,  and  to  be  particu- 
larly hurtful  to  epileptic  and  pregnant  women.  So  that  we 
have  here  a  striking  evidence  of  the  excellence  of  the  Nat. 
Syst.,  as  it  may  be  remembered  that,  in  describing  the 
characteristics  of  this  order,  this  plant  was  alluded  to  as 
forming  an  exception. 

Ajpium  jpetroselinum.  Parsley.  Ex.  cult.  Leaves  aromatic 
and  slightly  diuretic.     See  authors. 

Discojpleura  cajnllacea,  D.  C.  and  T.  and  Gray.  ]    Bishop's 
Ammi  majus  of  Walter.  j         weed. 

Grows  in  damp  soils.     Fl.  July.     Shec.  Flora  Carol.  136. 

Slum  nodijiorum,  "Walt,  and  Ell.  Sk.  \      "  Probably  intro- 
Helosciadium  of  Koch.  j      duced  ;  abundant 

around  Charleston."     Ell. 

Thornton's  Fam.  Herbal,  297;  Kay's  Cat.  Plantarum,  213; 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  It  is  recommended  in  cutaneous  erup- 
tions. Withering  relates  the  case  of  a  young  lady,  who 
was  cured  of  a  very  obstinate  attack  by  taking  three  large 
spoonfuls  of  the  juice  twice  a  day;  "and  I  have  repeated- 
ly seen,"  says  Thornton,  "two  ounces  administered  every 


46 

morning;,  with  the  greatest  advantage."  It  is  not  nauseous, 
and  children  take  it  readily,  mixed  with  milk.  When  it  is 
prepared  in  this  way  it  is  not  disagreeable,  and  does  not 
affect  the  head,  stomach,  or  bowels.  IT.  S.  Disp.  1296. 
The  juice  has  also  been  employed  in  scrofulous  swellings 
of  the  lymphatic  glands,  and  is  considered' diuretic.  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet.  369  ;  Bull,  des  Sc.  M.  de  Ferus.  xviii,  420 
and  xx,  421. 

Faemeulum  officinale.  Fennel.  Introduced  from  Europe; 
cultivated. 

Seeds  of  fennel  are  well  known ;  employed  in  flatulent 
colic  for  their  carminative  and  stimulant  properties.  The 
oil  of  fennel  is  also  used  for  the  same  purpose,  and  to  cor- 
rect the  taste  of.  medicine.     See  authors. 

Angelica  lucida,  Ell.  Sk.  ^      Angelica.    We  have  collected 
Archartgeliea  of  some,      /it  in  Fairfield  district;  also  in 
upper  St.  John's,  Charleston  district.     Fl.  July. 

Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  469 ;  Ed.  and  Yav.  Mat. 
Med.  276 ;  Le.  M.  Med.  i,  85 ;  Woodv.  Med.  Bot.  86  ;  U. 
S.  Disp.  98  ;  Journal  de  Pharm.  3e  ser.  2  ;  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  296  ;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  167.  The  root 
is  edible,  and  possesses  more  aroma  than  any  of  our  indig- 
enous plants.  It  is  used  in  spasmodic  vomiting,  flatulent 
colics,  and  nervous  headaches *  some  say  it  is  powerfully 
emmenagogue.  The  vittre  of  some  species  are  filled  with  a 
pungent  oil.  A  candy  is  sometimes  prepared  with  the 
roots  boiled  in  su^ar.  The  oreat  fragrance  of  this  root  has 
caused  it  to  be  used  for  many  purposes  by  the  confectioner 
and. others;  the  tender  stalks  also  are  candied.  The  seeds 
are  cordial,  tonic,  and  carminative  ;  and  the  plant  was  in 
repute  at  one  time  as  a  preventive  of  pestilence  to  those 
who  bore  it  about  them.  "The  pulverized  root,  in  doses  of 
a  drachm,  is  said  to  be  very  useful  in  pestilential  fevers  and 
diseases  of  the  liver ;  and  a  paste  of  its  root  and  vinegar 
used  to  be  carried  and  smelled  at  by  physicians  during  the 
prevalence    of  epidemics,   as   a   preventive    of  infection." 


47 

Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  "  Angelica  "  is  stated  in  some  tables 
to  yield  more  potash  even  than  wormwood  or  fumitory. 
See  "  Chenopodiuvi "  and  "Fumaria"  in  this  volume. 

Anethum  fce?iiculnm,  L.  Dill.  In  trod.  cult,  in  South 
Carolina. 

It  is  employed  in  flatulent  colic  as  a  carminative  and  an- 
tispasmodic. The  oil  has  been  given  in  hiccough.  Milne, 
in  his  Ind.  Bot.  404,  says :  "  The  herb,  boiled  in  broth,  has 
been  used  with  great  success  in  preventing  obesity."  See 
authors. 

Daueiis  carota,  Tourn.  Carrot.  Completely  naturalized, 
says  Elliott,  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Collected  in 
,S't.  John's;  Charleston.     Fl.  April. 

Woodv.  Med.  Bot.;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  401.  Root  and 
seeds  stimulant,  carminative,  and  eminently  diuretic  ;  em- 
ployed with  great  success  in  strangury,  anasarcous  swell- 
ings of  lower  extremities,  in  suppression  of  urine,  and 
painful  micturition.  Eberle  on  Diseases  of  Children,  110 ; 
Am.  Herbal,  92 ;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  298.  *  Dr. 
Chapman  used  a  strong  infusion  in  gravel.  Mer.  and  de 
L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  299 ;  Flora  Med.  ii,  99 ;  see  Chemical 
Anal,  by  Bouillon  Lagrange,  in  the  Journal  de  Pharm.  i, 
529.  Britanet  and  himself  wrote  a  book  on  the  plant 
(which  may  be  seen  in  the  New  York  Hosp.  Lib.)  Root 
contains  some  volatile  oil,  a  large  proportion  of  pectin,  a 
peculiar  coloring  principle  called  carotin,  and  sugar.  Grif- 
fith, Med.  Bot.  387.  The  authors  alluded  to  above  contend 
that  the  plant  acts  as  a  sedative,  even  topically  applied.  In 
the  form  of  a  poultice,  it  cairns  pain,  is  antiseptic,  and  cor- 
rects the  intolerable  fetor  arising  from  internal  diseases — 
as  of  the  ear,  for  example.  Dr.  Geo.  Wilkes,  ophthalmic 
surgeon,  ISTew  York,  informs  me  that  he  finds  it  invaluable 
in  this  respect.  Mem.  de  Museum,  iv,  102 ;  Suppl.  to  Mer. 
and  de  L.  1846 ;  Vauquelin  upon  the  Pectic  Acid  in  the 
Root  of  the  Carrot,  Journal  de  Pharm.  xv,  340.  The 
essential  oil  is  regarded  as  emmenagogue  and  antibysteric. 


48 

Ancien  Journal  de  Med.  xxiv,  68.  In  Germany,  it  is  con- 
sidered vermifuge.  Crantz,  Mat.  Med.  i,  23.  Shecut,  in 
his  Flora  Carol.,  alludes  to  its  employment  in  gravel,  and 
in  expelling  a  species  of  tape  worm.  A  syrup  similar  to 
treacle  has  been  obtained  from  it,  and  by  distillation,  a 
liquor  nearly  equal  in  flavor  to  brandy.  Much  use  is  made 
of  this  plant  in  popular  practice  as  a  diuretic. 

Daucus  pusillus,  Mx.  Wild  carrot.  Grows  on  the  Savan- 
nah river;  collected  in  St.  John's  ;  Charleston.     Bach. 

Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  318;  Bell's  Pract.  Diet. 
162.  Seeds  contain  more  volatile  oil  than  the  other  spe- 
cies. It,  however,  possesses  nearly  the  same  properties. 
Used  as  a  diuretic  in  calculous  diseases,  suppression  of 
urine,  etc. 

Araliace^e.     ( The  Aralia  Tribe.) 

Panax  quutquefolium,  L.  Ginseng.  Rich  soils  in  the 
mountains  of  South  Carolina.     Fl.  May. 

Am.  Herbal,  157,  by  Stearns.  In  China  they  drink  an 
infusion, of  the  root  instead  of  tea,  and  it  is  well  known 
that  they  have  recourse  to  it  as  a  last  resort  in  all'  diseases : 
Dr.  James  says,  more  especially  in  all  cachectic  and  con- 
sumptive cases,  and  in  those  arising  from  debility  of  any 
kind.  Dr.  Healde  also  alludes  to  their  great  confidence  in 
it  as  a  restorative  after  great  fatigue,  as  an  antispasmodic 
in  nervous  affections,  in  coma,  and  as  an  aphrodisiac ;  one 
hundred  and  twenty  grains  of  the  sliced  root  are  boiled 
in  a  quart  of  water,  and  two  ounces  of  the  decoction,  or 
twenty  grains  of  the  root  in  substance  is  employed.  Jar- 
toux,  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  xxviii,  239,  states  that,  after 
being  fatigued  by  travelling  three  days,  he  employed  the 
decoction  of  the  leaves  internally,  and  as  an  application  to 
the  feet,  and  was  satisfied  of  its  utility,  being  completely 
revived  by  it.  Dr.  Wood,  in  the  U.  S.  Disp.  530,  says,  it  is 
very  little  more  than  a  demulcent ;  but  Lindley,  Nat.  Syst. 
Bot.  25,  thinks  that  there  is  no  reasonable  doubt  of  the 
ginseng  having  an  invigorating  and  stimulant  power,  when 


49 

fresh.  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  82  ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de 
M.  Med.  iii,  356,  and  iv,  176;  Flor.  Med.  iv,  185;  Kaem- 
pher,  Amoen.  Academical,  v,  218;  Histoire  du  Japon,  vij. 
218 ;  Burmann,  Flora  Ind.  tab.  29,  i ;  L'Encyelop.  Chi- 
noise,  lxcii ;  Flora  Cochine,  806;  Lafitteau,  Descrip.  d\\ 
Ginseng,  Paris,  1718,  i,  12.  Dr.  Sarrazin  introduced  it 
into  notice  in  Europe.  Trans.  Roy.  Acad.  Sci.,  Bartram 
Com.  61,  1741 ;  J.  P.  Bregnius,  Diss.  Med.  de  Radice  Ginr 
seng,  1700;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  434.  Cullen,  in  his  Mat. 
Med.  270,  refers  to  its  efficacy  in  increasing  virility.  See 
Merat,  loc.  cit.  "J'avoue  qu'un  Individ u  qni  en  avait  fait 
usage  dans  cet  derniere  intention,  pendant  long  temps,  n'en 
obtint  absolument  aucun  resultat."  S.  Vaillant  in  Acad, 
des  Sci.  1718;  Bourdelin,  Hist,  de  l'Acad.  1797;  Lafitteau, 
Mem.  concernant  la  precieuse  plante  de  Ginseng,  Paris, 
1788;  Kalm.  Travels,  iii,  114;  Osbeck's  China,  145;  Heb- 
erden,  Med.  Trans,  iii,  34  ;  Fothergill,  Gent.  Mag.  xxiv,. 
209  ;  loc.  cit.  sup.  The  root  is  thought  to  resemble  liquor- 
ice, and  may  partially  supply  the  place  of  that  article:  see 
report  from  Surgeon-General's  office,  1862. 

Glycyrrhiza  glabra  ;  liquorice.  Exotic.  I  am  uncertain 
as  to  the  position  of  this  genus  in  the  natural  system;. 
This  plant  is  said  to  be  well  adapted  to  the  southern  states 
of  the  Confederacy.  It  has  been  grown  in  Texas.  Infor- 
mation as  to  the  best  mode  of  planting  and  culture  can  be 
found  in  a  paper  in  Patent  Office  Rep.  1854,  p.  359.  I  ap- 
pend the  following  practical  remarks:  "The  sooner  liquor- 
ice is  sold  the  heavier  it  weighs ;  and  the  greener  it  is  the 
more  virtue  it  contains.  It  is  sold  in  three  distinct  forms, 
viz:  in  the  roots,  in  powder,  and  in  its  inspissated  juice. 
The  first  of  these  needs  no  explanation.  The  second  is 
prepared  by  cutting  the  small  roots  into  small  pieces,  dry- 
ing them  in  an  oven  or  kiln,  and  grinding  them  in  a  mill. 
The  third  kind  is  prepared  by  pounding  the  vsmaller  roots 
and  fragments  with  cold  water  for  nearly  two  days  ;  after 
which  the  pulp  is  to  be  squeezed,  and  the  juice  boiled 
down  in  an  iron  pot  to  a  pitchy  consistence,  and  then  rolled 
4 


50 

or  stamped  into  sticks  or  cakes,  which  are  sometimes  sold 
under  the  name  of  'Spanish  Liquorice.'  Liquorice  roots 
will  keep  a  year  if  laid  in  sand,  and  stored  in  a  cool,  dry 
cellar  ;  and  if  the  sets,  or  runners,  or  buds,  are  cut  readj'- 
for  planting,  tied  in  bundles,  and  sent  by  land  carriage, 
they  will  keep  a  fortnight.  If  packed  in  sand,  and  sent  by 
water,  they  will  keep  some  three  or  four  months,  especially 
the  more  hardy  buds."  In  the  Patent  Office  Reports  for 
1854,  '55,  the  cultivation  of  a  number  of  medicinal  plants 
is  described,  particularly  those  yielding  aromatic  oils. 

Arcdia  spinosa,  L.  Toothache  bush  ;  Angelica  tree ; 
Prickly  ash.  Collected  in  St.  John's ;  rich  soils  along 
fences;  Charleston.  Plant  often  confounded  with  the  Xan- 
thoxylon  ;  properties  somewhat  similar.  See  X.  fraxineum. 
Ell.  Bot.  373 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  379 ; 
Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  100  ;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  191  ;  Frost's 
Elems.  20 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  345.  It  is  a  stimulating  and 
very  certain  diaphoretic,  "  probably  to  be  preferred  to  any 
emetic  yet  discovered  among  our  native  plants."  The 
infusion  of  bark  of  root  is  used  in  chronic  rheumatism  and 
cutaneous  eruptions,  also  employed  in  lues  venerea.  Pursh 
states  that  a  vinous  or  spirituous  infusion  of  the  berries  is 
remarkable  for  its  power  in  relieving  rheumatic  pains,  and 
the  tincture  is  also  given  in  Virginia  in  violent  colics. 
See  Dr.  Meara's  experiments.  Merat  says,  it  has  been 
used  to  allay  pain  caused  by  carious  teeth.  Dose,  of  the 
saturated  tincture,  a  tablespoonful  three  times  a  day.  A 
decoction  is  often  preferred  in  rheumatism,  made  by  boil- 
ing an  ounce  of  the  bark  in  a  quart  of  water :  taken  in 
divided  doses  several  times  a  day.  In  South  Carolina,  this 
plant  is  the  rattlesnake's  master  par  excellence,  according 
to  the  negroes  ;  they  rely  on  it  almost  exclusively  as  a 
remedy  for  the  bite  of  serpents.  I  am  informed  that 
they  use  the  bark  of  the  fresh  root  in  substance,  taken 
internally,  also  applying  it  powdered  to  the  wounded  part. 
Dr.  Meara  advises  that  the  watery  infusion,  when  employed 
as  a  diaphoretic,  should  be  made  very  weak,  as  it  is  apt  to 
excite  nausea,  and  cause  irritation  of  the  salivary  glands. 


51 

Aralia  racemosa,  L.  Spikenard.  Grows,  according  to 
Dr.  McBride,  in  the  mountains  of  South  Carolina. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.,  note,  i,  373.  The  decoction  of  the  root 
is  much  esteemed  by  those  residing  in  the  mountainous 
districts  as  a  remedy  in  rheumatism  ;  no  doubt  possessed  of 
stimulating  properties.  Michaux  cites  it  as  a  sudorific. 
The  root,  when  boiled,  yields  a  gummy  substance.  A  tea, 
syrup,  or  tincture,  may  be  made  of.  the  roots  or  berries. 
It  is  given  in  coughs,  asthma,  and  diseases  of  the  lungs. 
Also  given  as  a  stimulant  in  menstrual  obstructions;  said 
to  be  in  high  repute  among  the  Indians.  See  the  "Indian 
Guide  to  Health."  Dr.  Sarazzin  informs  us  that  it  is  very 
useful  as  a  cataplasm  in  inveterate  ulcers  ;  generally 
adapted  to  similar  purposes  with  the  A.  nudicaulis.  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  376;  IT.  S.  Disp. ;  Am. 
Journal  Med.  Sci.  xix,  117. 

Aralia  nudicaulis,  Mx.  Wild  sarsaparilla ;  wild  liquorice. 
Mountains  of  South  Carolina.    Fl.  June. 

Raf.  Med.  Flora,  i,  53 ;  II.  S.  Disp.  116.  A  gently  stim- 
ulating diaphoretic ;  thought  to  be  alterative,  and  used  in 
popular  practice  in  rheumatism,  syphilis,  and  cutaneous 
affections.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  375.  Dr. 
Meara  records  the  roots  as  possessing  the  virtues  of  sarsa- 
parilla. Mus.  Med.  Philos.  iv.  An  excitant,  diaphoretic, 
and  entrophic,  like  mezereon,  guaiac,  sarsaparilla,  and  sas- 
safras. The  infusion  has  been  employed  with  success  in 
zona,  and  as  a  tonic  in  debility  of  stomach  [les  reldchemens 
d'estoynac).  Coxe,  IT.  S.  Disp.  99 ;  Lindley's  Nat.  Syst. ; 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  344;  Phil.  Med.  Mus.  ii,  161.  Admin- 
istered in  domestic  practice,  in  pulmonary  disease,  where 
inflammation  does  not  coexist. 

Berberace^e.     ( The  Berberry  Tribe.) 

Berberis  vulgaris,  Walt.  Fl.  Carol.  )     American  Barberry. 
"        Canadensis,  Ph.  and  Ell.   )  Grows    wild    in    St. 
John's,   Berkley,  near  Woodlawn,  PL;   upper  districts  of 
Georgia,  Carolina,  and  northward.     Fl.  May. 


52 

Shec.  Flora  Carol,  (see  B.  vulgaris),  268  ;  Lind.  Nat. 
Syst.  Bot.  30;  U.  S.  Disp.  1233,  Appendix.  The  B.  vul- 
garis of  Europe,  with  which  this  plant  is  not  identical, 
though  differing  from  it  but  slightly,  if  at  all,  in  medicinal 
properties,  has  received  considerable  attention.  They  are 
used  as  a  domestic  remedy  in  jaundice,  and  in  dysentery 
and  diarrhoea  ;  it  is  supposed  that  the  acid  is  specific. 
From  analysis  by  Buchner  and  Herberger,  it  is  shown  that 
the  root  contains  a  new  principle  called  berberine,  which 
acts  like  rhubarb,  and  with  equal  promptness  and  activity. 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  113  ;  Journal  de  Pharm.  1233 ;  Trans. 
Phil.  Soc.  1834;  Analysis  in  Journal  de  Pharm.  xxiv,  39; 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  Supplement,  1846,  101. 
From  the  berries  a  syrup  is  obtained  which  is  adapted  to 
putrid  fevers,  and  those  of  a  low  type;  a  cooling  drink  is 
also  made  with  them,  and  given  in  similar  cases.  The  root 
boiled  in  lye  imparts  a  yellow  color  to  wool.  It  was  said  to 
have  a  singular  effect  upon  wheat  growing  near  it,  turning 
the  ears  black  for  some  distance  around;  but  this,  however, 
is  doubted.  We  have  observed  the  remarkable  irritability 
of  the  stamens  in  the  species  growing  in  South  Carolina, 
which,  when  touched,  instantly  spring  down  upon  the 
stigma,  and  in  this  way  communicate  their  pollen  to  it. 
The  berries  are  acid.  The  English  barberry  (i?.  vulgaris) 
has  attracted  much  attention  ;  its  fruit  is  edible,  and 
much  discussion  has  been  excited  whether  or  not  it  pro- 
duces smut  in  wheat  or  corn  when  planted  near  it.  Ex- 
periments touching  this  peculiarity  should  be  performed 
with  respect  to  our  barberry.  For  a  full  statement  of  the 
merits  of  the  above  question,  see  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  Art. 
Barberry.  Thae'r,  in  his  "Principles  of  Agriculture,"  p. 
409,  says  :  "  One  very  extraordinary  fact  is  that  the  barberry 
bush  will  produce  smut,  or  something  very  similar  to  it,  in 
all  corn  growing  within  a  considerable  distance  of  it.  This 
is  a  fact  which  has  been  confirmed  by  numerous  observa- 
tions and  experiments  in  almost  all  countries.  But  it  has 
never  yet  been  clearly  and  satisfactorily  ascertained  in 
what  manner  the  barberry  produces  this  effect.     My  friend 


53 

Einhoff  has  made  several  experiments  ori  the  possibility  of 
communicating  cecidium  (a  parasitical  fungus)  to  cereals  hj 
cutting  branches  from  the  barberry,  which  were  quite  cov- 
ered with  it,  and  shaking  them  over  the  corn,  or  else  plant- 
ing them  in  the  midst  of  it ;  but  he  never  succeeded  in 
thus  producing  the  disease  ;  therefore  it  would  seem  that  it 
is  not  the  communication  of  this  dust,  but  the  vegetation 
of  the  barberry  in  the  vicinity  of  the  cornfield,  which  en- 
genders the  disease.  Nor  will  it  attack  crops  planted  near 
young  and  newly  made  barberry  hedges ;  but  as  these  lat- 
ter grow  up,  the  disease  will  appear  until  these  hedges  are 
rooted  up.  As  soon  as  the  barberry  has  been  thoroughly 
extirpated,  the  evil  disappears."  Thaer  .considers  mil  or 
mel-dew  a  disease  of  the  skin  of  plants.  See  this  work  for 
information  on  diseases  affecting  the  cereals — on  irrigation, 
etc.  Translated  by  William  Shaw  and  C.  W.  Johnson.  New 
York,  1852.  It  is  believed  by  some  in  this  country  that 
the  pokeweed  (Phytolacca),  if  allowed  to  die  in  a  cotton 
field,  will  produce  rust.     This  is  quite  unlikely. 

Sarraceniace^e. 

The  species  of  this  order  are  exclusively  confined  to  the 
bogs  of  this  country.  Lindley  thinks  it  should  also  com. 
prebend  the  Dioneea,  which  grows  in  this  state,  and  which 
also  possesses  the  power  of  entrapping  insects.  See  D. 
muscipula. 

Sarracenia  flava,  L.,  and  variolaris,  M.  .  Fly-catchers  ;  side- 
saddle flowers.  Diffused;  grow  in  bogs;  Charleston;  New- 
bern.     Fl.  June. 

See  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  226,  where  the 
Diss,  of  Dr.  McBride,  of  South  Carolina,  in  the  12th  vol. 
Trans.  Linnsean  Soc,  is  referred  to.  We  have  read  this 
description  of  one  of  our  native  botanists,  and  allude  to  it 
with  pleasure.  We  are  informed  by  several  gentlemen  of 
this  state  that  these  plants  are  used  in  dyspepsia  with  great 
service.     The  roots  are  undoubtedly  possessed  of  bitter, 


54 

tonic,  and  stomachic  properties;  and  we  are  credibly  as- 
sured of  a  number  of  cases  in  which  relief  has  been  experi- 
enced from  them.  The  taste  is  disagreeable  to  those  using 
them  for  the  first  time,  but  eventually  it  becomes  pleasant, 
as  we  have  ourselves  experienced.  An  infusion  might  serve 
as  a  useful  substitute  for  bitters. 

In  an  article  on  the  medicinal  and  chemical  properties 
of  these  plants,  published  by  me  in  the  January  number 
(1849)  of  the  Charleston  Medical  Journal,  the  attention 
of  the  profession  is  for  the  first  time  invited  to  their  re- 
puted value  in  the  treatment  of  dyspepsia.  Several  cases 
are  there  detailed,  illustrating  the  employment  of  the  sarra- 
cenia.  It  is  supposed  by  many  to  relieve  most  of  the  dis- 
tressing symptoms  of  this  affection,  among  which  may  be 
cited :  gastralgia,  pyrosis,  acidity,  aud  the  general  feeling 
of  malaise,  so  frequently  attendant  upon  it.  In  some  it 
induces  considerable  diuresis,  and  in  others  soreness  of  the 
mouth.  In  experiments  made  upon  my  own  person,  to 
ascertain  its  physiological  effects  upon  a  healthy  individual, 
it  exhibited  a  tonic,  stimulating  influence  upon  the  digest- 
ive organs,  producing  some  cerebral  disturbance,  when 
persisted  in.  On  one  occasion  320  grains  of  the  dried  root, 
in  the  form  of  pills,  were  taken  during  the  course  of  twelve 
hours.  From  the  examination  made  for  me  by  Prof.  C.  U. 
Shepard,  it  contains  besides  lignin,  coloring  matter,  and 
traces  of  a  resinous  body,  an  acid,  or  an  acid  salt,  and  also 
an  astringent  property,  due  neither  to  tannic  nor  gallic  acid, 
"and  a  salt  of  some  alkaloid,  related  perhaps  to  cinchonia, 
which,  should  it  prove  new,  may  be  called  sarracenin." 
We  ascertained  the  existence  of  starch  in  some  quantity  in 
the  cold  infusion  and  in  the  decoction,  not  discovered  in 
the  boiled  alcoholic  solution,  which,  however,  contained 
some  gluten.  "  In  its  exhibiting  in  moderate  quantities  no 
very  decided  nor  violent  effects  upon  the  animal  economy 
in  disease  consists  its  excellence.  And  its  peculiar  action 
on  the  stomach,  we  think,  is  the  result  of  a  happy  combi- 
nation of  elements,  which  renders  it  appropriate  to  the 
relief  of  an  affection  like  dyspepsia.     Its  acid  prevents  or 


55 

corrects  the  undue  formation  of  alkalies,  or  supplies  its  own 
deficiency,  the  existence  of  either  condition  having  been 
assumed  as  explaining  the  true  pathology  of  the  disease. 
Its  power  of  neutralizing  or  correcting  acidity  was  obvious. 
Its  bitter  property,  which  is  abundant,  is  tonic  and  restora- 
tive ;  its  resinous  portion  may  supply  the  proper  cathartic 
stimulus,  the  too  inordinate  action  of  which  is  corrected  by 
the  astringent;  and  this  being  neither  that  of  the  tannic 
nor  gallic  acid  found  in  other  vegetable  tonics,  may  be 
superior.  Should  dyspepsia  be  a  gastric  neuralgia,  or  con- 
sist, as  Parry  thinks,  in  a  condition  of  hyperemia;  or  as, 
according  to  Wilson  Philip,  a  chronic  gastritis,  its  relief 
may  be  accounted  for,  by  a  narcotic  principle  contained  in 
the  plant;  the  cerebral  disturbance,  one  of  its  physiological 
effects  upon  our  own  person,  giving  some  color  to  the  sug- 
gestion." (See  Art.  cit.  sup.)  A  bit  of  the  fresh  or  dried 
root  of  either  species  may  be  chewed,  and  the  juice  swal- 
lowed, during  the  day  before  each  meal;  it  ma}r  be  given 
powdered  in  the  form  of  pill,  with  a  little  rhubarb  if  neces- 
saiy,  or  a  tincture  may  be  made  by  pouring  a  pint  of  brandy 
over  several  ounces  of  the  root,  of  which  half  an  ounce, 
diluted,  may  be  taken  three  times  a  day.  I  have  lately 
had  cases  reported  to  me,  of  its  marked  success  in  the  relief 
of  chronic  diarrhoea  and  dysentery,  and  I  am  pleased  to 
learn  that  it  is  now  widely  used  in  other  portions  of  this 
state,  and  in  Georgia,  with  very  general  approbation. 

RnizoPHORACEiE.     (Mangrove  Tribe.) 

JRhizophora  mangle,  L.  Mangrove.  This  plant  is  found 
in  South  Florida.  Chapman.  An  introduced  species  is 
used  in  India  for  yielding  a  black  dye. 

Onagrace^e.     (The  Evening  Primrose  Tribe.) 

CEnolher a  biennis,  Linn.  Scabish.  Grows  in  dry  pastures ; 
diffused;  collected  in  Charleston  district;  jSTewbern. 

Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  iv,  202 ;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot. 
36;  IT.  S.  Disp.  1281;  Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  ii,  444;  Griffith, 


56 

Med.  Bot.  304.  The  root  and  herb  have  been  employed  in 
cutaneous  diseases.  Dr.  Griffith  has  used  it  with  success 
in  tetter,  applying  the  decoction  to  the  affected  part  several 
times  a  da}7,  and  giving  it  internally  at  the  same  time.  He 
has  been  successful  with  it  in  subsequent  trials.  The  plant 
should  be  gathered  about  the  flowering  season.  The  young' 
sprigs  are  mucilaginous,  and  can  be  eaten  as  salad.  Lind- 
ley.  The  leaves  of  the  (Enothera  expand  in  the  evening, 
and  continue  open  all  night.  Pursh  states  that,  even  of  a 
dark  night,  it  can  be  seen  at  some  distance,  owing,  he  sup- 
poses, to  some  phosphoric  property.  Its  roots  have  a  nutty 
flavor,  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  rampion,  and  are  used 
in  Germany  and  some  parts  of  Prance,  stewed  and  raw,  in 
salads',  with  mustard,  oil,  salt,  and  pepper,  like  common 
celery.  The  ancients  thought  the  plant  possessed  the  pow- 
er of  allaying  intoxication  and  calming  the  most  ferocious 
animals.  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  is  the  Oenothera  of 
the  ancients.     Wilson's  Rural  C}tc. 

Jussicea  grandijlora,  Mich.  Grows  in  bogs;  "common 
around  Savannah,  and  in  ponds  four  miles  from  Charles- 
ton." Dr.  J.  Bachman  informs  me  that  he  has  seen  it  in 
abundance  around  Charleston  for  the  space  of  ten  miles, 
from  which  locality  I  have  specimens.  Fl.  July.  Dr.  S. 
A.  Cartwright,  of  Natchez,  asserts  that  this  plant  has  the 
power  of  preventing  the  development  of  malaria  in  regions 
peculiarly  adapted  to  its  generation.  Pie  affirms  that  it 
"purifies  all  stagnant  water  in  which  it  grows — that  of  the 
lakes  and  bayous  inhabited  by  it  being  as  pure  to  the 
sight,  taste,  and  smell,  as  if  it  had  just  fallen  from  the 
clouds"  —  ascribing  to  the  presence  and  peculiar  "hygienic 
or  health-preserving  properties  of  this  plant"  the  remark- 
able exemption  of  the  inhabitants  of  lower  Louisiana  from 
"malarious  or  miasmatic  diseases."  "The  fact,"  he  adds, 
"that" the  region  of  country  in  which  this  aquatic  plant 
abounds  is  exceedingly  healthy,  can  be  established  beyond 
cavil  or  dispute ;  it  nevertheless  contains  more  stagnant 
water  and  swamps  than  any  other  inhabited  district  of  the 


57 

same  extent  in  the  United  States."  He  is  quoted  in  the 
notes  appended  by  the  American  editor,  to  Watson's  Pract. 
Physic,  p.  465 ;  and  Dr.  "Wood,  in  his  late  work  on  the 
Practice  of  Physic,  also  makes  use  of  these  assertions  as  if 
they  were  established.  Dr.  C.  must  seek  for  the  exemption 
of  this  section  of  country  from  these  diseases  in  other 
causes,  as  this  plant  is  abundant  around  the  cities  alluded 
to  above,  in  situations  where  it  is  well  known  that  fevers 
of  malarious  origin  are  continually  prevailing.  I  have 
recently  observed  this  plant  growing  profusely  around 
Charleston  Neck,  where  intermittent  and  remittent  fevers 
are  notoriously  prevalent. 

The  genus  Jussiena  has  its  roots  distended  into  vegetable 
swimming  bladders.  The  curious  can  examine  the  J.  gran- 
difiora to  observe  this  peculiarity,  like  that  in  our  beautiful 
Utricularia  inflata. 

Typha  and  Nymphaia  (water  lily),  and  Sagittaria,  "display 
myriads  of  air  chambers  in  the  solid  stem."  See  Wilson, 
"Aquatic  plants." 

Ludiuigia  aUernifolia,  L.  Grows  in  Charleston  district ; 
Elliot  says  rare;  seven  miles  from  Beaufort,  and  at  Savan- 
nah; collected  in  St.  John's.   Fl.  Aug. 

Merat,  in  the  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  154,  says  that  in 
America  a  decoction  of  the  root  is  employed  as  an  unfail- 


ing emetic. 


Melastomace^e. 


In  this  order,  a  slight  degree  of  astringency  is  the  pre- 
vailing characteristic;  though  a  large  one,  it  does  not  con- 
tain a  single  unwholesome  species. 

Rheoria glabella,  Mx.  Deer  grass;  Sorrel.  Grows  in  moist 
pine  lands,  vicinity  of  Charleston ;  collected  in  St.  John's. 
Fl.  July. 

The  leaves  of  this  plant  have  a  sweetish,  acid  taste,'  and 
are  eaten  with  impunity.    Deer  are  said  to  be  fond  of  them. 


Myrtace.e.     ( The  Myrtle  Tribe.) 

Punicd  granatum.  Pomegranate.  Cultivated  with  success 
in  this  state.  The  bark  of  the  root  is  a  well  known  astrin- 
gent; employed  in  dysentery  and  diarrhoea;  one  scruple  of 
the  powder  may  be  given  at  a  dose,  or  a  decoction  may  be 
used  if  this  is  too  strong,  as  it  acts  on  the  nervous  system. 
Carson,  in  his  Illust.  Med.  Bot.  i,  1847,  states  that  it  has  also 
been  employed  with  success  against  taenia.  A  correspond- 
ent of  the  "Mercury,"  1862,  says  that  the  rind  of  the  fruit 
yields  a  jet  black  fluid,  which  writes  very  smoothly  and 
retains  its  jetty  hue."     "F.  J.  S." 

Hamamelaceje.     [The  Witch- Hazel  Tribe.) 

This  order,  remarks  Lindley,  is  found  in  the  northern 
parts  of  North  America,  Japan,  and  China.  In  my  exami- 
nation of  the  various  authorities  on  the  subject  before  me, 
I  have  frequently  been  struck  with  the  correspondence 
prevailing  between  the  species  found  in  this  state  and 
those  of  Japan,  and  this  respects  only  the  medical  botany 
of  the  two;  should  the  flora  of  each  be  compared,  a  still 
more  universal  relation  might  be  established.  Professor 
Agassiz  has  noticed  something  of  the  same  kind  existing 
between  the  fossil  botany  and  the  fauna  of  each. 

Hamamelis  Virginica,  Jj.  Witch-hazel.  Grows  along  pine 
land  bays;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Charleston  district; 
vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  452;  Coxe,  Am. 
Disp.  310;  IT.  S.  Disp.  1258;  Matson's  Veg.  Pract.  201; 
Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  850;  Rafinesque,  Med"  Flor.  i,  227. 
It  is  said  to  be  sedative,  astringent,  tonic,  and  discutient. 
The  bark  was  a  remedy  derived  from  the  Indians,  who 
applied  it  to  painful  tumors,  using  the  decoction  as  a  wash 
in  inflammatory  swellings,  painful  hemorrhoidal  affections, 
and  ophthalmias.  A  cataplasm,  and  a  tea  of  the  leaves,  as 
an  astringent,  were  employed  in  haematemesis.  The  steam 
practitioners  also  administer  it  in  irritable  hemorrhoids, 


59 

and  during  the  bearing-down  pains  attending  child-birth. 
No  analysis  has  been  made,  but  as  it  probably  contains 
sedative  and  astringent  principles,  attention  is  directed  to 
it.  The  curious  reader  may  consult,  besides  the  paper  in 
Ilutton's  "Mathematics,"  on  the  wonderful  properties  of 
the  witch-hazel  in  detecting  water,  a  recent  one  in  Patent 
Office  Report  on  Agriculture,  p.  16,  1851.  This  is  from 
Prairie  du  Chien,  by  Mr.  Alfred  Burnson,  and  contains 
some  remarkable  statements  of  the  certainty  of  finding 
water  by  the  divining  rod.  Some  electrical  and  telluric 
influences  are  hinted  at — Qredat  Judceus !  Persons  living 
in  the  upper  districts  of  South  Carolina  assume  to  use  the 
rod  with  success. 

CoKNACBiE.     [The  Dogwood.  Tribe.) 

Cornus  Florida,  L.  Dogwood.  Well  known ;  diffused  in 
rich  shady  lands  ;  Newbern  ;  Va. 

Drayton's  Yiew  S.  C.  63;  Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  152;  Bar- 
ton's Collec.  12;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  303;  Chap.  Therap. 
and  Mat.  Med.  ii,  438;  Ell.  Bot.  i,  208;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii, 
753;  U.  S.  Disp.  277;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  197;  Am. 
Journal  Pharm.  vii,  114;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  422;  Ball,  and 
Gar/310;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet  de  M.  Med.  iv,  436;  Big. 
Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  73 ;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  449 ;  Thacher's 
Disp.  203;  Walker's  Inaug.  Diss.  Phil.  1803;  Lind.  Nat. 
Syst.  Bot.  49;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  This  well  known 
plant  possesses  tonic  and  anti-intermittent  properties,  very 
nearly  allied  to  those  of  cinchona ;  in  periodic  fevers,  one 
of  the  most  valuable  of  our  indigenous  plants.  "  Dr. 
Gregg  states  that,  after  emplojang  it  for  twenty-three  years 
in  the  treatment  of  intermittent  fevers,  he  was  satisfied 
that  it  was  not  inferior  to  Peruvian  bark."  Generally  given 
in  conjunction  with  laudanum.  It  also  possesses  antiseptic 
powers.  In  the  recent  state,  it  is  less  stimulating  than  the 
cinchona  bark,  but  it  affects  the  bowels  more ;  the  dried 
bark  is  the  preferable  form.  The  fresh  bark  will  some- 
times act  as  a  cathartic.  It  is  more  stimulating  than 
thoroughwort    (Eupatorium),   and,  therefore,  is  less  appli- 


60 

cable  during  the  hot  stages  of  fever.  According  to  Dr. 
Walker's  examination,  the  bark  contains  extractive  matter, 
gum,  resin,  tannin,  and  gallic  acid ;  and  Dr.  Carpenter 
announces  in  it  a  new  principle,  cornine.  Dr.  S.  Jack- 
son also,  from  experiment,  is  satisfied  that  it  contains  a 
principle  analogous  to  quinia.  It  has  been  exhibited  by 
Dr.  S.  G.  Morton  in  intermittent  fever,  with  success.  Grif- 
fith, in  his  Med.  Bot.  347,  mentions  that  the  infusion  of  the 
tlowers  is  useful  as  a  substitute  for  chamomile  tea;  for 
analyses,  see  Am.  Journ.  Pharm.  i,  114;  and  Phil.  Journal 
Med.  and  Phys.  Sci.  xl.  Dose  of  the  dried  bark  in  powder, 
is  twenty  to  sixty  grains;  the  decoction  is  made  with  one 
ounce  of  the  root  to  one  pint  of  water,  or  the  extract  may 
be  employed;  alcohol  also  extracts  its  virtues.  The  ripe 
fruit,  infused  in  brandy,  makes  an  agreeable  and  useful 
bitter,  which  may  be  a  convenient  substitute  for  the  arti- 
cle prepared  in  the  shops.  Barton  says,  in  his  Collections, 
that  the  bark  is  valuable  in  a  malignant  disorder  of  horses 
called  yellow  water ;  from  the  gallic  acid  it  contains  a  good 
writing  ink  may  be  made,  and  from  the  bark  of  the  fibrous 
roots  the  Indians  extracted  a  scarlet  color.  Linclley  men- 
tions that  the  young  brauches,  stripped  of  their  bark,  and 
rubbed  against  the  teeth,  render  them  extremely  white!  It 
is  often  employed  by  the  common  people  in  South  Carolina 
for  this  purpose. 

In  our  present  need  of  astringent  antiperiodics  and 
tonics,  the  dogwood  bark  powdered  will  be  found  the  best 
substitute  for  Peruvian.  Internally  and  externally,  it  can 
be  applied  wherever  the  cinchona  barks  were  found  ser- 
viceable. The  dogwood  bark  and  root,  in  decoction,  or  in 
form  of  cold  infusion,  is  believed  by  many  to  be  the  most 
efficient  substitute  for  quinine,  also  in  treating  malarial 
fevers;  certainly,  it  might  be  used  in  the  cases  occurring 
in  camp,  to  prevent  the  waste  of  quinine,  as  it  can  be 
easily  and  abundantly  procured. 

Dr.  Richard  Moore,  of  Sumter  district,  informs  me  that 
he  not  only  finds  it  efficient  in  fevers,  but  particularly  use- 


61 

ful,,  with  whisky  or  alcohol,  in  low  forms  of  fevers,  and 
dysentery  occurring  near  our  river  swamps. 

During  convalescence,  where  an  astringent  tonic  is  re- 
quired, this  plant  supplies  our  need.  See  Eupatorium  (bone- 
set)  and  Lirodendron.  These,  with  the  blackberry  and 
chinquapin  as  astringents,  the  gentians  and  pipsissewa 
as  tonics  and  tonic  diuretics,  the  sweet  gum,  sassafras, 
and  bene  for  their  mucilaginous  and  aromatic  properties, 
and  the  wild  jalap  (podophyllum)  as  a  cathartic,  supply 
the  surgeon  in  camp  with  easily  procurable  medicinal 
plants,  which  are  sufficient  for  almost  every  purpose. 
Ultrate  and  bi-carbonatc  of  potash  are  most  required,  and 
with  calomel,  may  be  procured  from  abroad.  Our  supply 
of  opium  can  be  easily  procured  by  planting  the  poppy, 
and  incising  the  capsules.  Every  planter  could  raise  a  full 
supply  of  opium,  mustard,  and  flax  seed.  The  wood  of  the 
dogwood,  like  the  willow,  is  preferred  in  making  gun- 
powder. See  Salix.  A  tonic  compound,  as  advised  by  the 
herbalists,  is  made  with  the  bark  of  the  root  of  dogwood, 
Colombo  (Frasera),  poplar,  each  six  ounces;  bark  of  wild 
cherry,  six  ounces;  leaves  of  thorough  wort,  four  ounces; 
cayenne  pepper,  four  ounces  —  sifted  and  mixed.  Dose,  a 
teaspoonful,  in  warm  or  cold  water,  repeated.  It  is  stated 
in  the  "JN"ewbern  Progress"  "that  a  ripe  dogwood  berry 
taken  three  times  a  day,  before  meals,  will  cure  ague  and 
fever. 

My  friend,  Professor  "F.  A.  P.,"  contributes  the  follow- 
ing to  the  Charleston  Courier.  The  Dogwood  bark,  pow- 
dered, may  be  used  in  place  of  the  Peruvian  mentioned: 

Dutch  Remedy  for  Fever  and  Ague. — As  quinine  is  very 
scarce,  it  may  not  be  unprofitable,  both  to  our  armies  and 
to  private  families,  to  revive  the  memory  of  an  ancient 
remedy,  which  was  in  almost  universal  use  before  the  in- 
troduction of  the  former  drug.  It  was  known  by  the  name 
which  heads  this  article,  and  has  been  used  from  time  imme- 
morial among  the  Huguenot  families  of  the  Santee,  among 
whom  there  is  a  tradition  that  it  was  brought  to  this  coun- 
try   by    the  ancestor   of  one  of  the   families,  who  was    a 


62 

r 

physician.  The  remedy  quoted  below  is  copied  from  an 
old  receipt  book.  Though  not  a  professional  man,  I  can 
vouch  for  its  efficacy  when  it  was  in  vogue. 

The  Recipe. — Two  ounces  of  Peruvian  bark,  two  ounces 
of  cream  of  tartar,  sixty  cloves. 

Manner  of  Using  It. — These  ingredients  are  to  be  rubbed 
together  in  a  mortar.  The  mixture  to  be  divided  into 
twenty-four  doses,  four  of  which  (mixed  in  water)  are  to  be 
given  the  first  day,  four  on  the  second,  and  two  on  every 
succeeding  day,  until  the  whole  shall  have  been  taken.  It 
is  probable  that  the  disease  will  be  arrested  on  the  second 
or  third  day,  but  the  object  in  taking  the  whole  prescrip- 
tion is  to  complete  the  cure  by  its  tonic  property. 

The  berries  of  the  dogwood  have  also  been  highly  re- 
commended— given  as  a  remedy  for  fever  in  place  of 
quinine  (1862).     One  or  two  given  in  the  form  of  pill. 

The  wood  is  compact,  heavy,  fine  grained,  and  suscep- 
tible of  a  brilliant  polish.  It  is  used  on  our  plantations 
wherever  a  hard  wood  is  required,  as  in  making  wedges, 
the  handles  of  light  tools,  mallets,  plane  stocks,  harrow 
teeth,  names;  horse  collars,  etc.  Michaux  states  that  the 
shoots,  when  three  or  four  years  old,  are  found  proper  for 
the  light  hoops  of  small  portable  casks.  In  the  Middle 
states  the  cogs  of  mill  wheels  are  made  of  dogwood.  The 
branches  of  the  tree  are  disposed  nearly  in  the  form  of 
crosses.  N.  Am.  sylva.  Farmer's  Encye.  I  have  used  the 
dogwood  for  engraving.  See  "  Amelanchier"  in  this  vol- 
ume. 

Cornus  sericea,  Ph.  Red  willow ;  swamp  dogwood.  El- 
liott says  it  grows  in  the  mountains  of  South  Carolina; 
sent  to  me  from  Abbeville  district,  by  Mr.  Reed.     Fl.  June. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  349.  It  possesses  properties  quite 
similar  to  those  of  the  C.  florida,  but  it  is  mOre  bitter  and 
astringent.  Mr.  R.  informs  me  that  it  is  employed  to  a 
great  extent  in  domestic  practice  in  Abbeville.  Accord- 
ing to  13.  S.  Barton,  the  bark  was  considered  by  the  Indians 
a   favorite  combination    with  tobacco  for  smoking.     The 


young  shoots  were  used  to  make  coarse' baskets;  and  they 
extracted  a  scarlet  dye  from  these  and  the  roots. 

Cornus  sanguined,  L.  Grows,  according  to  Elliott,  in  the 
valleys  among  the  mountains.     Fl.  May. 

Diet,  de  Med.  de  Ferus.  ii,  737  ;  Mathiole,  Comment,  ii, 
119 ;  Journal  de  Chim.  xxxviii,  174,  and  xl,  107.  See,  also, 
Journal  de  Pharm.  for  an  account  of  the  oil  extracted  from 
it.  M.  Murion  says  they  afford  one-third  of  their  weight 
of  a  pure  and  limpid  oil,  used  for  the  table  and  for  burn- 
ing. A  case  of  hydrophobia  was  said  to  have  been  cured 
by  it.  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  349.  There  also  exists  in  this, 
as  in  the  others,  a  red.  coloring  principle,  soluble  in  water 
alone. 

Cornus  strict®.  Grows  in  swamps  near  Charleston  ;  New- 
bern.     Shec.  Flora  Carol.  449. 

LORANTHACEJ3. 

Bark  usually  astringent;  berries  contain  a  viscid  matter; 
plants  possess  the  power  of  rooting  in  the  wood  of  others. 

Viscum  verlicillatmn,  L.  The  V.  verticillatum  of  Ell.  Sk. 
is  not  that  of  Linn  T.  and  Gray  ;  N",  A.  Flora.  Mistletoe. 
Diffused  ;  grown  on  oaks  ;  NeAvbern.     Fl.  May. 

Mer.  and  .  de-  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  860 ;  Lind.  Nat. 
Syst.  Bot.  50;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  456;  Journal  de  Med.  lxx, 
529 ;  Eberle,  Dis.  of  Children,  522.  Dr.  Barham,  in  the 
Hortus  Americanus,  says  that  the  fruit  of  the  mistletoe 
cures  epilepsies,  pleurisies,  coup  de  soleil,  etc.  Dem.  Elem. 
de  Bot.  iii,  556;  employed  in  paralysis.  Thornton's  Fam. 
Herb.  333.  Fothergill,  Dr.  Wilson,  and  Gilbert  Thomp- 
son use  it  "with  great  effect  in  epilepsy."  So,  also,  Dr. 
Fraser,  who  published  a  work  on  it.  Wade's  PI.  Kariores, 
82.  Eberle,  "Dis.  of  Children,"  alludes  to  its  employment 
in  infantile  epilepsy.  Some  writers  refer  to  the  European 
species ;  but  this  is  supposed  to  be  identical  with  it.     The 


64 

seeds  contain  a  viscid  substance  resembling  bird-lime  in 
appearance,  which  is  insoluble  both  in  water  and  in  alco- 
hol. In  Dr.  Hunter's  edition  of  Evelyn's  Sylvia,  it  is  said 
to  prevent  the  rot  in  sheep.  Bird-lime  was  formerly  made 
from  the  berries  of  the  mistletoe  of  oak,  which  were  first 
boiled  in  water,  then  pounded,  and  the  water  poured  off  .in 
order  to  carry  away  the  seeds  and  rind.  For  process, 
see  "Holly"  (Ilex  opaca) ;  also,  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  : 
"Bird-lime"  and  "  Bird  catching." 

Cucurbitace^e.     (The  Gourd  Tribe.) 

) 
This  order  is  closely  allied  to  the  Passifloraceae,  and  is 

found  in  most  abundance  in  hot  countries.     Most  of  them 

are  valuable  articles  of  food,  but  are  pervaded  by  a  bitter 

laxative  quality,  which  in  the  colocynth  gourd  becomes  an 

active  purgative  principle. 

Cucumis  citr alius.  Watermelon.  The  juice  of  the  melon 
by  boiling  may  be  converted  into  a  palatable  syrup  for 
table  use,  and  one  of  the  best  substitutes  "for  molasses.  No 
doubt,  like  the  ripe"  fig,  beet,  and  other  saccharine  sub- 
stances, it  may  easily  be  converted  into  vinegar,  and  should 
be  added  to  the  vinegar  cask.  The  diuretic  properties  of 
the  seeds  of  the  watermelon  are  well  known  —  almost  the 
same  may  be  said  of  the  pumpkin,  which  is  used  as  an 
article  of  food  for  man  and  beast  in  many  of  the  Confed- 
erate States.  The  harder  portions  of  both  melon  and 
pumpkin  are  used  in  making  preserves  by  our  Southern 
matrons. 

Oucumis  pej)o,  W.  Pumpkin.  Cultivated  very  success- 
fully in  South  Carolina. 

Shea  Flora  Carol.  488.    The  seeds  afford  an  essential  oil, 

which  might  be  made  of  some  value  ;  when  triturated  with 

water,  they  furnish  a  cooling  and  nutritive  milk,  and  when 

,  boiled  to  a  jelly,  they  are  said  by  Bechstein  to  be  a  very 

efficacious  remedy  for  retention   of   urine.      The  fruit   is 


65 

much  used  on  the  plantations  in  this  state,  as  an  article  of 
food  both  for  men  and.  animals;  pies  and  preserves  of  an 
agreeable  flavor  are  made  of  it.  See  Stille's  Mat.  Med., 
and  recent  medical  works  for  the  singularly  useful  qualities 
of  the  seeds,  as  recently  applied  by  Johnson  and  others,  in 
medicine.  The  fruit  which  should  have  been  dried  as  a 
winter  provision  for  our  army",  has  been  converted  into 
brandy,  and  dried  fruit  will  probably  be  very  scarce.  An 
excellent  substitute  may  be  found  in  the  pumpkin.  Cut 
into  slips  and  dried  either  in  the  sun  or  in  a  dry  room,  it  is 
said  to  be  little  inferior  to  dried  apples.  The  muskmelon 
(Cucumis  melo)  and  cucumber  (C.  sativus)  are  also  culti- 
vated in  South  Carolina. 

Giicurbita  lagenaria,  L.  Gourd;  calabash.  Grows  in  corn- 
fields, and  along  fences  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  Richland. 
Gibbes.     Collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl.  May. 

Linn.  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  180 ;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  563; 
Le.  Mat.  Med.  i,  379 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii, 
492.  An  infusion  has  been  found  useful  in  inflammation  of 
the  urinary  passages,  and  the  seeds  have  been  employed  in 
rheumatism,  strangury,  and  nephritis.  Shec.  Flora  Carol. 
479.  "Water,  which  has  lain  for  some  time  in  the  fruit  of 
this  plant,  becomes  violently  emetic  and  cathartic."  The 
shells  of  the  dried  fruit  are  sometimes  so  capacious  as 
to  contain  four  gallons  of  water;  convenient  receptacles, 
water-flasks,  dippers,  milk-pans,  etc.,  are  made  of  them. 
They  must  first  be  deprived  of  their  acrid  principle  by 
boiling;  moulds  for  buttons  are  fashioned  out  of  them, 
and  they  are  much  used  for  these  purposes  by  the  negroes 
on  the  plantations.  The  watermelon  (C.  citrullus)  grows 
luxuriantly  in  South  Carolina.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
juice  of  the  latter  is  diuretic,  and  the  seeds,  by  trituration, 
or  by  being  boiled  in  water,  afford  a  demulcent  and  diuretic 
drink.  The  various  species  of  squash  are  likewise  culti- 
vated here. 

Melothria  penduld,  L.   Creeping  cucumber.    Grows  in  rich, 
5 


shaded  soils ;    collected  in  St.  John's,  Charleston  district. 
M.  June. 

Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  iii,  498 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de 
M.  Med.  iv,  322  ;  Griffith,  Med.  JBot.  311.  The  seeds  act  as 
a  drastic  purgative  —  a  half  a  one  is  a  dose  for  an  adult. 
Martius  states  that  three  or  four  will  act  powerfully  on  a 
horse.     Journal  de  Chim.  loc.  sit.  sup. 

CACTACEiE.     ( The  Indian  Fig  Tribe.) 

Fruit  very  similar  in  its  properties  to  that  of  the  currant 
tribe ;  often  refreshing,  sometimes  mucilaginous  and  in- 
sipid. 

Opuntia  vulgaris,  Mill.  T.  and  Gray.  )      Grows  in  dry  pas- 

Cactus,  opuntia  of  Ell.  Sk.  /tures;  Newbern.  Fl. 

May. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  11.  The  fruit  is  said 
to  be  eatable ;  the  leaves  cut  transversely  are  applied  to 
tumors  as  a  discutient ;  the  decoction  is  mucilaginous, 
and  I  am  informed  that  it  is  much  used  in  Alabama  as  a 
demulcent  drink  in  pneumonic  and  pleuritic  inflamma- 
tions. Its  cultivation  has  been  recommended  on  account 
of  the  cochineal  insect,  which  is  said  to  feed  on  it.  Mr. 
Wm.  Summer,  of  South  Carolina,  contributes  the  following 
to  the  list  of  our  "expedients": 

To  make  hard  tallow  Candles. — To  one  pound  of  tallow 
take  five  or  six  leaves  of  the  prickly  pear,  ( Cactus  ojmntia,) 
split  them,  and  boil  in  the  tallow,  without  water,  for  half  an 
hour  or  more ;  strain  and  mould  the  candles.  The  wicks 
should  have  been  previously  dipped  in  spirits  of  turpentine 
and  dried. 

If  the  tallow  at  first  is  boiled  in  water,  and  the  water 
changed  four  or  five  times,  it  will  be  bleached  and  rendered 
free  from  impurities.  Then  prepare,  by  frying  with  prickly 
pears,  to  harden  it. 

In  this  way  we  have  made  tallow  candles  nearly  equal  to 
the  best  adamantine,  and,  at  the  same  time,  have  the  con- 


solation  of  knowing  that  we  are  independent  of  the  extor- 
tioners, who  are  next  of  kin  to  the  villainous  abolitionist 
makers  of  stearin e  candles  in  the  North. 

The  prickly  pear  has  been  used  (1862)  for  hardening  tal- 
low by  the  ladies  of  St.  John's,  S.  C,  with  satisfactory 
results.  One  pound  is  added  to  four  of  tallow ;  a  larger 
quantity  makes  the  candles  too  brittle.  It  takes  the  place 
of  wax. 

'  Cactus  cochinilifer.  Elliott  says  that  it  is  probable  that 
other  species  exist,  but  he  does  not  include  this  in  his 
Sketches  of  the  Bot.  of  South  Carolina.  Shecut,  however, 
in  his  Flora  Carol.  819,  remarks,  that  "  we  are  indebted  to 
Dr.  Garden,  of  South  Carolina,  for  the  discovery  of  this 
tree  here,"  well  known  as  the  one  upon  which  the  cochi- 
neal insect  feeds.  T.  and  Gray,  however,  do  not  include  it 
in  their  IsT.  A.  Fl.  The  fruit  tinges  red  the  urine  of  those 
who  eat  it ;  and  the  leaves,  rubbed  up  with  hog's  lard,  are 
useful  as  a  topical  application  to  prevent  mortification. 

CnuciFERiE.     (The  Cruciferous  Tribe.) 

Lindley  states  that  the  universal  characteristic  of  this 
order  is  the  possession  of  antiscorbutic  and  stimulant  quali- 
ties, combined  with  an  acrid  flavor.  The  species  contain  a 
great  deal  of  nitrogen,  to  which  is  attributed  their  animal 
odor  when  rotting. 

Lepidium  V%rgi?iicum,  L.  Peppergrass ;  Virginian  cress. 
Wet  places.     Common. 

It  is  suitable  to  be  used  in  winter  and  early  spring  salads, 
but  is  far  less  in  request  than  some  of  the  other  cresses. 
Sowings  should  be  made  in  light,  dry  earth,  the  beds  pro- 
tected with  dry  litter  during  severe  winter.     Rural  Cyc. 

Camelina  sativa,  Crantz.  Gold  of  Pleasure.  Referred  to 
in  Chapman's  Botany  of  Southern  states,  p.  30,  as  intro- 
duced, growing  in  cultivated  fields. 

Paper  in  P.  0.  Report  on  Agriculture,  1851,  p.  51,  on  the 


68 

"  Camelina  sativa — a  new  oil  plant."  In  some  parts  of  the 
world  it  is  cultivated  for  its  stems,  which  yield  a  fibre  ap- 
plicable for  spinning,  and  for  its  oleiferous  seeds.  Merat 
says  cultivated  for  this  purpose  in  Flanders. 

Mr.  Wm.  Taylor,  F.  L.  S.,  has  recently  drawn  the  atten- 
tion of  agriculturists  and  others  to  this  as  an  oil  plant, 
adapted  for  feeding  cattle,  and  for  other  purposes.  He  says 
that  the  soil  best  adapted  for  its  cultivation  are  those  of  a 
light  nature,  but  a  crop  will  never  fail  on  land  of  the  most 
inferior  description.  It  has  been  found  to  flourish  this  year 
on  sandy  soils,  where  no  other  vegetable  would  grow,  and 
independent  of  the  drought,  the  plants  have  grown  most 
luxuriantly,  yielding  a  large  and  certain  crop.  When 
grown  upon  land  that  has  been  long  in  tillage  and  well 
farmed,  the  crop  will  be  most  abundant.  The  best  time 
for  putting  in  the  seed  is  as  early  as  possible  in  the  spring 
months,  say  from  the  middle  of  March  or  the  middle  of 
April  to  June,  and  for  autumn  sowing  to  August ;  and  the 
quantity  per  acre  required,  fourteen  pounds ;  and  may  be 
either  drilled  or  broadcast,  but  the  drilled  method  should 
be  preferred.  If  drilled,  the  rows  must  be  twelve  inches 
apart.  As  soon  as  the  plants  have  grown  five  or  six  inches 
high,  a  hand  or  horse  hoe  may  be  used  to  cut  up  the  weeds 
between  the  rows,  and  no  further  culture  or  expense  will  be 
required.  If  sown  early,  two  crops  may  be  frequently  ob- 
tained in  one  year,  as  it  is  fit  for  harvesting  in  three  months 
after  the  plant  makes  its  first  appearance.  Or  another  im- 
portant advantage  may  be  obtained :  if  seed  is  sown  early 
in  March,  the  crop  will  be  ready  to  harvest  in  the  begin- 
ning of  July,  and  the  land  fallowed  for  wheat  or  spring 
corn;  also  when  barley  or  small  seeds  cannot  be  sown  suf- 
ficiently early,  this  may  be  put  in  with  great  success.  It  is 
a  plant  that  may  be  cultivated  after  any  corn  crop,  without 
doing  the  least  injury  to  the  land,  and  may  be  sown  with 
all  sorts  of  clover ;  the  leaves  of  the  gold  of  pleasure,  being 
particularly  small,  afford  an  uninterrupted  growth  to  every 
plant  beneath  it,  and  the  crop  being  removed  early,  the 
clover  has  time  to  establish  itself. 


69 

The  grower  of  this  invaluable  production  is  in  all  sea- 
sons secure  of  his  crop,  inasmuch  as  it  is  not  subject  to 
damage  by  spring  frosts,  heavy  rains,  and  drought,  and, 
above  all,  the  ravages  of  insects,  more  particularly  the  cab- 
bage plant  louse  (aphis  brassica),  which  so  frequently 
destroys  rape,  turnips,  and  others  belonging  to  the  cruci- 
ferse  order,  when  coming  into  blossom.  The  seed  is  ripe 
as  soon  as  the  pods  change  from  a  green  to  a  gold  color. 
Care  must  then  be  taken  to  cut  it  off  before  it  becomes  too 
ripe,  or  much  seed  may  be  lost.  When  cut  with  a  sickle, 
it  is  bound  up  in  sheaves,  and  shocked  in  the  same  manner 
as  wheat.  The  process  of  ripening  completed,  it  is  stacked 
or  put  in  a  barn,  and  threshed  like  other  corn.  The  ex- 
pense of  these  crops  cannot  be  very  great,  either  in  the 
preparation  and  culture  of  the  land  or  in  the  management 
in  securing  the  produce  afterward ;  but  when  grown  with 
care  and  in  good  season,  the  produce  will  mostly  be  very 
abundant — as  high  as  thirty-two  bushels  and  upward  to  the 
acre. 

The  cultivation  of  this  plant  for  the  seed  would  repay 
the  farmer;  an  abundance  of  chaff  would  be  produced, 
which  would  be  of  infinite  service  for  horses  or  for  manure. 
In  a  grazing  country  like  England,  where  vast  sums  are 
annually  expended  for  foreign  oil  cake,  the  gold  of  pleasure 
will  soon  be  found  an  excellent  substitute  under  manufac- 
ture, and  consequently  a  grower  would  find  a  good  remu- 
neration in  cultivating  the  seed.  The  plant  may  be  con- 
sidered a  valuable  production  of  the  earth.  A  fine  oil  ia 
produced  for  burning  in  lamps,  in  the  manufacture  of  wool- 
len goods,  in  the  manufacture  of  soaps  for  lubricating 
machinery,  and  for  painters.  The  oil  cake  has  been  found 
highly  nutritious  in  the  fattening  of  sheep  and  oxen,  as  it 
contains  a  great  portion  of  mucilage  and  nitrogenous  mat- 
ter, which,  combined  together,  are  found  very  beneficial  in 
developing  fat  and  lean.  From  the  experiments  above  re- 
lated, it  is  abundantly  proved  that  it  does  not  suffer  from 
the  severest  frosts,  its  foliage  not  being  injured.  It  is  not 
infested  by  insects,  nor  does  it  exhaust  the  soil. 


70 

The  gold  of  pleasure  has  been  cultivated  by  several  prac- 
tical agriculturists,  who  highly  approve  of  the  new  plant. 
For  all  these  reasons  it  is  hoped  that  every  farmer  will  avail 
himself  of  this  valuable  discovery  as  a  remunerating  rota- 
tion crop.  Mr.  Taylor  adds  that  one  acre  cultivated  with 
these  plants  yield  thirty-two  bushels  of  seed,  from  which 
five  hundred  and  forty  pounds  of  oil  are  obtained;  so  that 
the  camelina  seems  to  exceed  the  flax  in  its  produce  of 
seed,  oil,  and  cake  per  acre.  The  seed  is  extremely  rich  in 
nutriment.  I  know  of  no  seed  superior  to  it  for  feeding 
cattle.  The  oil  obtained  by  expression  is  sweet  and  excel- 
lent, especially  for  purposes  of  illumination.  From  the 
very  small  quantity  of  inorganic  matter  in  the  seed,  it  will 
be  evident  that  the  seed  cake  must  be  of  a  very  nutritious 
character,  being  merely  the  seed  deprived  of  a  portion  of 
its  water  and  oily  matter.  We  have  examined  some  of  the 
oil  obtained  from  the  seed  of  the  camelina  saliva,  and  which 
has  been  recently  sent  to  several  medical  men  by  Mr.  Tay- 
lor, under  the  belief  that  it  possesses  valuable  medical 
properties.  It  is  of  a  yellow  color,  and  smells  something 
like  linseed  oil.  Finding  it  of  service  in  relieving  the  in- 
cessant cough  of  a  cat,  Mr.  Taj^lor  has  extended  the  use  to 
the  human  subject,  and  states  that  it  has  cured  several  per- 
sons affected  with  diseased  lungs  and  asthma. 

In  a  brief  notice,  P.  0.  Reports,  1850,  is  the  following 
statement :  "  Camelina  sativa  (3fiagrum  sativum)  an  annual 
from  France,  produces  a  finer  oil  for  burning  than  rape, 
having  a  brighter  flame,  less  smoke,  and  scarcely  any  smell. 
It  succeeds  well  in  light,  shallow,  dry  soils ;  and  in  our 
Middle  and  Southern  states  it  would  probably  produce 
two  crops  in  a  season.  Besides  the  use  of  the  seeds  for  oil, 
the  stems  yield  a  coarse  fibre  for  making  sacks  and  a  rough 
kind  of  packing  paper,  and  the  whole  plant  may  be  em- 
ployed for  thatching.  The  culture'  is  similar  to  that  for 
flax."     See  "Linum  "  in  this  volume. 

Capsella  Bursa-pastoris,  Moench  and  T.  and  G.  )  •     Grows 
Thalspi.     Linn,  and  Ell.  Sk.  )  in    damp 

pastures  ;  collected  in  St.  John's ;  ISTewbern.    Fl.  May. 


71 

Ray's  Cat.  Plantarum,  47  ;  Bergius,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  389 ; 
Le.  Mat.  Med.  i,  243 :  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi, 
732.  It  astringes  and  constipates  ;  hence  employed  in  dys- 
entery, diarrhoea,  and  bloody  urine  ;  the  juice  placed  on 
a  piece  of  cotton,  and  inserted  in  the  nostril,  will  arrest 
hemorrhage.  u  Externe  vulneribus  solidandis  adhibieter 
nee  sine  successu."  Fl.  Scotica,  342  ;  Linn.  Veg.  M. 
Med.  128. 

Sisymbrium  nasturtium,  L.  and  Ell.  Sk.  >      Cress.    Nat.  in 
Erysimum  of  Bot.  )  the  upper  part  of 

this  state  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Bach.     Fl.  March. 

Fl.  Scotica,  351.  The  young  leaves  furnish  an  agreeable 
salad  ;  the  plant  was  esteemed  useful  as  an  antiscorbutic, 
and  was  employed  in  removing  obstructions  of  the  liver, 
viscera,  jaundice,  etc.  Thornton's  Fam.  Herb.  618.  The 
juice  acts  as  a  stimulant  and  diuretic.  Haller  says:  "We 
have  seen  patients  in  a  deep  decline  cured  by  living  almost 
entirely  on  these  plants."  According  to  Tournefort,  the 
juice,  snuffed  up  the  nose,  cured  cases  of  polypus  of  that 
organ.  See  Edinburgh  New  Disp.,  Flora  Med.  iii,  138; 
Pliny,  lib.  xix,  chap.  8  ;  xx,  chap.  13.  Hoffman  and  Cullen 
spoke  highly  of  it  as  furnishing  a  mucilaginous  application 
for  the  heads  of  infants  affected  with  eruptions.  It  was 
acknowledged  to  have  an  effect  upon  maladies  of  the  skin, 
engorgement  of  the  abdominal  viscera  when  the  blood  is 
depraved,  in  feeble  digestion,  etc.  T7.  S.  Disp.  1226.  This 
plant  is  also  vaunted  in  incipient  phthisis,  in  chronic  ca- 
tarrhs, in  maladies  of  the  bladder  and  kidneys,  and  in 
hysterical  affections.  It  contains  a  very  bitter  and  odorif- 
erous essentia]  oil — the  seeds  yielding  55  per  cent,  of  fixed 
oil.  See  de  Cancl.  Phys.  Veg.  i,  298  ;  Journal  Gen.  de  Med. 
xxviii,  136 ;  Barbier,  M.  Med.  242.  Moreau  asserts  that 
vertigo  and  discoloration  of  the  face  are  produced  in  those 
eating  this  plant;  but  this  is  an  effect  unnoticed  by  others. 

Sisymbrium  officinale,  Fide  Grav-  )  TT   i  ^     i 

-m.     •  j,  t  •  7™,  ^     }  Hedge  mustard. 

Erysimum        "  Lin.  and  Ell.  Sk.    ) 

This  is  not  included  by  Mr.  Elliott  in  his  Sketches  of 


72 

the  Plants  of  South  Carolina.  It  was  one  of  the  speci- 
mens sent  to  Professor  Gray,  and  determined  hy  him ;  col- 
lected in  St.  John's,  Berkley ;  Charleston  district.  The 
herb  is  said  to  be  diuretic  and  expectorant ;  the  seeds  pos- 
sess considerable  pungency,  and  have  been  recommended 
in  chronic  cough,  hoarseness,  and  ulceration  of  the  mouth 
and  fauces  ;  the  juice  of  the  plant  in  honey  or  the  seeds  in 
substance  may  be  used. 

Sisymbrium  amphibium,  L.  Water  radish.  Rare  ;  roots 
immersed  ;  collected  on  causeway  near  Brunswick ;  PI.  T. 
W.  Peyre's,  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  365.  Recommended 
for  taenia  by  Didelot,  and  in  the  old  works  as  an  antiscor- 
butic. Merat  says  the  "young  leaves  are  eatable  in  the 
spring ;  probably  possessed  of  similar  properties  with  the 
S.  nasturtium." 

Nasturtium  officinale,  R.  Br.  Water  cress.  Introduced. 
Ditches  Florida,  and  northward.     Chap. 

This  plant  came  into  pretty  high  favor  about  a  century 
ago  as  a  spring  salad ;  and  it  soon  obtained  preference  to 
all  other  spring  salads  on  account  of  its  agreeable,  warm, 
bitter  taste,  and  for  the  sake  of  its  purifying,  antiscorbutic, 
and  diuretic  properties.  It  was  greedily  gathered  in  all  its 
natural  habitats  within  some  miles  of  London  for  the  supply 
of  the  London  market,  and  eventually  became  an  object  of 
regular,  peculiar,  and  somewhat  extensive  cultivation ;  see 
methods,  etc.,  Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopaedia. 

Sinapis  nigra.  Mustard.  Cultivated  in  South  Carolina. 
Therapeutic  virtues  well  known. 

Mustard  is  a  hardy  annual,  cultivated  as  a  small  salad  for 
greens,  and  for  the  seed,  which  are  extensively  employed 
for  medicinal  purposes.  The  demand  for  the  production  of 
this  plant,  on  account  of  the  value  of  the  seeds  as  a  local 
irritant,  should  induce  every  planter  and  farmer  to  grow  it. 
Enormous  quantities  are  required  to  supply  the  armies ; 


besides  that,  it  is  largely  consumed  in  every  household. 
The  white  mustard  I  have  seen  cultivat'ecl  on  our  planta- 
tions, and,  maturing  early  in  June,  is  fully  equal  in  strength 
to  the  imported  article.  At  the  present  time  (June,  1862) 
the  seeds  are  sold  for  more  than  a  dollar  a  pound.  It  is 
very  easily  ground  or  powdered,  and  used  like  English 
mustard. 

The  common  table  mustard  is  prepared  from  the  flour  of 
the  seed.  For  salad,  it  is  sown  thickly,  and  used  like  com- 
mon cress.  "  Sow  early  in  the  spring  in  two  feet  drills, 
and  thin  to  six  inches.  The  crop  must  be  gathered  before 
it  is  fully  ripe,  on  a  cloudy  day  or  early  in  the  morning,  to 
prevent  the  seed  from  shelling  out." 

The  "white"  is  usually  prepared  for  salad,  and  the  seeds 
are  eaten  whole  as  a  remedy  for  impaired  digestion.  The 
leaves  of  this  are  light  green,  mild  and  tender  when 
young;  the  seed  light  yellow.  The  "black"  or  "brown" 
is  a  larger  plant,  with  much  darker  leaves.  "  Seeds  brown, 
and  more  pungent." 

For  the  medical  uses  of  these  plants,  any  of  the  works 
on  the  materia  medica  will  supply  information  under  the 
head  "  Sinapis.'-' 

Mustard  seed  oil,  says  Ure,  in  his  Diet.  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences, p.  285,  concretes  when  cooled  a  little  below  32° 
Fahrenheit.  The  white  or  yellow  seed  afford  thirty-six 
per  cent,  of  oil,  and  the  black  seed  eighteen  per  cent. 

The  reader  interested  in  the  culture  of  mustard  can  find 
some  information  in  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  He  quotes  from 
a  prize  essay  by  T.  C.  Burroughes  in  7th  volume  Royal 
Ag.  Soc.  The  field  culture  of  both  the  white  and  black 
mustard  is  practised  for  the  production  of  their  seeds,  with 
a  view  either  to  the  expression  of  oil  from  them,  similar  to 
that  of  cole,  and  rape,  and  poppy,  or  to  the  obtaining  of 
oil  cake  for  the  use  of  cattle,  or  to  the  grinding  them  into 
the  well  known  condimental  and  medicinal  flour  of  mus- 
tard, or  to  several  other  economical  and  pharmaceutical 
purposes.  The  crop  is  reaped,  and  tied  in  sheaves  like 
wheat,  and  is  afterward  threshed  out  upon  cloths  in  the 


74 

field  in  the  same  manner  as  cole.  White  mustard  is  gen- 
erally laid  in  handfuls  on  the  shuttle,  and  not  tied  up. 
The  black  mustard  is  hardier  than  the  white.  The  quan- 
tity of  oil  obtained  from  any  given  weight  of  black  mus- 
tard seeds  is  greater  than  that  obtained  from  the  same 
weight  of  coles;  but  the  oil  cake  is  slightly  purgative,  and 
requires  to  be  given  to  cattle  with  caution,  and  is  com- 
monly ground  and  sprinkled  on  their  chaff.  "Wilson  also 
states  that  the  flour  of  mustard  from  the  seeds  of  black 
mustard  is  much  more  pungent,  and  of  much  finer  quality 
than  that  from  the  seeds  of  white  mustard.  It  is  still  the 
kind  most  commonly  used  in  France ;  but  it  requires  to  be 
manufactured  by  a  nice  mechanical  process  of  removing 
the  outer  skins  of  the  seeds,  or  else  it  has  a  grayish  or  very 
dark  color ;  and,  in  fact,  it  is  never  so  prepared  as  to  be 
entirely  freed  from  its  grayishness.  The  flour  of  white 
mustard  is  generally  used  in  Britain  in  consequence  of  its 
fine  color,  and  the  superior  facility  of  manufacturing  it.  It 
is  often  mixed  with  the  black.  Rural  Cyc.  The  method 
of  depriving  the  black  mustard  seed  of  its  envelope  I  have 
been  unable  to  obtain.  Warm  water  is  always  the- best  ad- 
dition to  mustard  to  elicit  the  volatile  oil.  Vinegar  lessens 
its  pungency.  See  Trousseau's  Experiments.  Mustard 
has  been  highly  recommended  as  a  substitute  for  the 
spring  colza  and  other  plants,  to  be  used  in  the  production 
of  oil.  "Both  species,"  white  and  black,  yield  oil,  Thaer 
says  in  his  Principles  of  Agriculture,  "which  is  well  adapted 
for  burning ;  and  also,  when  well  purified,  for  the  use  of  the 
table.  A  quintal  of  mustard  seed  yields  from  thirty-six  to 
thirty-eight  pounds  of  oil.  The  biting  acridity  of  the  seed 
exists  not  in  the  oil,  but  in  the  integument;  and  the 
English  mustard,  which  is  celebrated  for  its  strength,  is 
said  to  be  made  from  cakes  from  which  the  oil  has  been 
expressed."  Among  the  plants  mentioned  by  Thaer  as  val- 
uable for  the  oil  in  their  seeds,  are  the  oily  radish  {Eaph- 
anus  ckinensis  oleiferus),  the  sunflower,  and  the  common 
poppy,  Papaver  somniferum ;  the  oil  from  the  white-seeded 
variety  is  preferable  on  account  of  its  taste.     See  Thaer 


75 

also,  for  descriptions  of  the  cultivation  of  flax  seed,  hemp, 
hops,  madder,  beets,  etc.  Many  plants,  the  seeds  of  which 
yield  oil,  are  used  in  making  oil  cake  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses, and  as  food  for  animals.  The  sunflower,  which 
yields  a  large  quantity  of  seed  to  the  acre,  will,  it  is  said, 
furnish  one  gallon  of  oil  to  the  bushel.  See  "Cotton," 
"Flax,"  etc.,  in  this  volume. 

Capparidacb^:.     (Caper  Family.) 
Capparis   Spinosa.     (Caper  Tree.) 

This  plant,  cultivated  in  Greece,  Ionian  isles,  France^ 
Italy,  etc.,  has  also  been  introduced  into  this  country. 
The  flower  buds  are  collected  and  put  into  salt  and  vinegar. 
See  Patent  Office  Report,  1855,  p.  285,  for  a  brief  notice  of 
the  cultivation  and  preparation.  In  the  Confederate  States 
we  have  the  C.  Jamaicencis,  Jacy,  and  C.  cynophallophora,  L. 
growing  in  South  Florida.  It  is  possible  that  they  may  be 
used  as  substitutes  for  the  foreign  caper. 

YiOLACEiE.     (The  Violet  Tribe.) 

Roots  more  or  less  emetic  ;  a  property  which  prevails  to 
a  greater  extent  in  the  South  American  species,  which  are 
generally  less  herbaceous. 

Viola  pedata,  Mich.  Found  in  the  upper  districts  ;  spar- 
ingly in  the  lower ;  Richland.     L.  Gibbes.     Fl.  May. 

TJ.  S.  Disp.  753 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  140.  The  roots  of 
nearly  all  the  species  of  this  genus  possess  a  nutritive  and 
an  emetic  principle,  called  violine,  allied  to  that  of  ipe- 
cacuanha, but  more  uncertain  in  its  operation.  This  is 
said  to  replace  the  European  plant,  and,  according  to  Dr. 
Bigelow,  is  valuable  as  an  expectorant  and  demulcent  in 
pectoral  affections. 

Viola  arvensis,  D.  C. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  141.  This  and  the  V.  tricolor  have 
received   considerable    attention    from   European   writers, 


76 

especially  the  German.  Strack  made  them  the  subject  of  a 
discussion  in  1776,  and  since  then  the  observations  of  Met- 
zer,  Cloquet,  and  others  have  shown  that  they  are  possessed 
of  much  efficacy  in  the  treatment  of  cutaneous  diseases, 
and  especially  of  that  obstinate  and  unpleasant  eruption, 
crustea  lactea.  The  fresh  plant,  or  its  juice  is  to  be  used, 
as  drying  destroys  its  active  qualities.  Strack  states  that, 
when  the  remedy  has  been  given  for  some  time,  the  urine 
becomes  extremely  fetid,  smelling  like  that  of  the  cat;  op. 
cit.  supra.     Attention  is  invited  to  it.     See  V.  tricolor. 

Viola  tricolor,  Linn.  Heartsease.  Cultivated  in  gardens. 
Fl.  May. 

Trous.  et  Pid.  Traite  de  Therap.  et  cle  Mat.  Med.  ii,  15 ; 
IT.  S.  Disp.  743;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  453;  Griffith,  40; 
Thornton's  Fam.  Herb.  731.  It  was  formerly  considered  a 
valuable  remedy  in  epilepsy,  ulcers,  and  scirrhus.  See 
Storck  de  V.  tricolor,  Erlang.  1782.  Metzer  de  crustea 
lactea  infantum,  ejusdem  que  remedio  prsemio  coronavit. 
1776.  Lond.  Med.  Journal.  A  handful  of  the  fresh,  or 
one  ounce  and  a  half  of  the  dried  herb,  was  boiled  in  milk, 
which  was  taken  twice  a  day ;  bread  soaked  in  this  was 
also  applied  to  the  affected  parts.  It  was  much  boasted  of 
as  a  remedy  in  the  latter  disease ;  see  Mer.  and  de  L.  and 
the  Art.  V.  arvensis.  Bergius,  speaking  of  these  two,  says 
that  half  an  ounce  in  twelve  of  water  produces  a  consistent 
and  valuable  demulcent  jelly. 

Viola  palmata,  Linn.  Hand-leaved  violet.  Collected  in 
St.  John's ;  vicinity  of  Charleston ;  ISTewbern.    Fl.  March. 

Ell.  Bot.  300,  Med.  Notes.  The  plant  is  very  mucilagin- 
ous. It  is  employed  by  negroes  for  making  soup,  and  is 
commonly  called  wild  okra.  The  bruised  leaves  are  used 
as  an  emollient  application. 

Viola  cucullata,  Ait.  Common  blue  violet.  Grows  in 
damp  pine  lands;  collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of 
Charleston.    FL  Mav. 


77 

Le.  Mat.  Med.  i,  223.  Probably  possessed  of  similar 
properties  with  the  others;  a  decoction  is  given  to  children 
in  eruptive  diseases.  These  plants  might  very  conveniently 
be  used  in  domestic  practice,  and  we  would  invite  attention 
to  their  further  employment. 

Droserace^e.     (The  Sun  Dew  Tribe.) 

Plants  generally  slightly  acid ;  acrid  and  poisonous  to 
cattle. 

Drosera  rotundifolia,  Linn.  Sun  dew.  Grows  in  damp 
spots  in  the  low  country  of  South  Carolina;  Richland;  col- 
lected in  St.  John's;  Newbern.     Fl.  June. 

Bull.  Plantes  Yen  de  France.  Vicat  mentions  it  as  an 
active  and  corrosive  plant:  the  liquor  which  exudes  from 
the  hairs  destroying  warts,  corns,  etc.  Dem  Elem.  de  Bot. 
ii,  334.  M.  Geoftroi  asserts  that  it  is  a  valuable  pectoral, 
employed  in  ulcers  of  the  lungs,  asthma,  etc. ;  the  infusion 
being  generally  used.  The  juice  has  been  recommended 
in  hydrops,  diseases  of  the  kidneys,  ophthalmias,  etc.  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  690.  Shec,  in  his  Flora 
.Carol,  519,  confirms  tjie  opinion  in  reference  to  the  corro- 
sive property  of  the  juice,  and  adds  that,  with  milk,  it 
furnishes  a  safe  application  for  removing  freckles ;  any  part 
of  it  will  curdle  milk.  Fl.  Scotica,  109.  It  is  thought  to 
be  very  injurious  to  sheep,  producing  in  them  consumption 
or  rot.  M.  Berlace  affirms  (Esquiss.  Hist.  Bot.  Aug.)  that 
cattle  avoid  it  on  account  of  an  insect  (Hydra  hydatula) 
which  feeds  on  it.  This  plant  is  quite  diminutive,  and  has 
heretofore  received  very  little  attention;  we  see  no  men- 
tion made  of  it  in  our  Am.  Disps. 

V.  Passifloraceje.     (The  Passion  Flower  Tribe.) 

Passiflora'hrtea :  tend  incarnata,  Linn.  May  apples;  passion 
flowers.     Grow  in  pastures. 

The  fruit  of  these  beautiful  climbing  plants  contains  a 
sweetish,  acid  pulp,  and  is  eatable.  Several  of  the  species 
are   employed  in   medicine ;   but  these  have  received  no 


78 

attention,  being  more  remarkable  on  account  of  the  struc- 
ture of  their  flowers.     One  is  quite  diminutive. 

Hypericace^;.     (The  Tatsan  Tribe.) 

The  juice  of  many  of  the  species  is  slightly  purgative 
and  febrifugal. 

Ascyrum  Crux  Andreas,  W.  ]  Peterwort.  Collected  in 
"  multicaule,  Mx.  j  pine  land  soils;  St.  John's; 
vicinity  of  Charleston ;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

The  infusion  of  the  bruised  root  and  branches  of  this 
plant  was  used  by  an  Indian  with  success  in  the  case  of  a 
female,  under  our  observation,  with  an  ulcerated  breast, 
which  had  resisted  all  other  attempts  at  relief.  We  have 
since  seen  it  employed  with  entire  satisfaction,  on  the  per- 
son of  an  infant,  having  a  painful  enlargement  of  the  sub- 
maxillary gland.  ISTo  further  opportunity  has  been  aiforded 
of  ascertaining  its  properties  with  certainty ;  but  it  seems 
to  be  possessed  of  some  power  as  a  resolvent  in  discussing 
tumors,  and  reducing  glandular  enlargements ;  given  in- 
ternally, and  applied  topically.  The  taste  is  somewhat 
acrid.     "We  would  invite  further  examination. 

Hypericum  'perforatum,  L.  St.  John's-wort.  Sparingly 
naturalized  in  Confederate  States. 

It  was  greatly  in  vogue  at  one  time,  and  was  thought  to 
cure  demoniacs.  The  decoction  also  given  in  hysteria  and 
suppressed  menstruation.  Thornton's  Family  Herbal,  67. 
The  coloring  matter  gives  a  good  dye  to  wool. 

The  plant  called  St.  John's-wort,  which  I  think  is  Ascy- 
rum cruxandrece,  growing  abundantly  throughout  our  coun- 
try, is  popularly  regarded  as  of  great  value,  bruised  and 
applied  in  the  healing  of  wounds,  and  as  a  discutient. 

Wilson  states  that  its  leaves  and  flowers  are  strongly 
resiniferous  or  oleiferous,  and  emit  a  powerful  odor  when 
rubbed ;  it  bleeds  under  very  slight  compression  or  wound- 
ing, and  imparts  a  blood-red  color  to  any  spirituous  or 
oleaginous  substance  with  which  it  is  mixed,  and  was  for- 


79 

merly  supposed  to  possess  the  power  of  healing  wounds, 
bruises,  and  contusions.  It  is  the  Fuga  Dcemonium,  he 
adds,  of  old  herbalists,  and  was  formerly  held  to  "influence 
conjurations  and  enchantments.  It  yields  a  good  yellow 
dye  to  woven  fabrics,  from  its  flowers,  and  a  good  red  dye 
from  its  leaves.  The  juice  of  the  Hypericums  are  often 
exceedingly  similar  to  gamboge.  Rural  Cyc.  The  plant 
has  a  resinous  odor,  and  Dr.  Darlington  says  is  believed  to 
produce  troublesome  sores  on  horses  and  horned  cattle, 
especially  those  which  have  white  feet  and  noses.  The  dew 
which  collects  on  the  plant  appears  to  become  acrid.  Flora 
Cest.  Farmers'  Encyc.  I  found  the  same  impression  pre- 
vailing in  Powhatan  county,  Va.  A  tincture  of  the  flowers 
and  leaves  are  used  in  stomach  complaints. 

Hypericum  sarothra,  Mich.,  T.and  G.  ]      Pine  weed; 

Sarothra  gentianoides  Linn,  and  Ell.  Sk.  j  orange  grass. 
Grows  in  dry  pastures ;  collected  in  St.  John's  ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston;  JSTewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  cle  M.  Med.  vi,  226 ;  Journal  de 
Med.  lxxx,  360.  It  is  employed  as  an  aperient  in  inflam- 
matory affections. 

Acerace^.     (The  Sycamore  Tribe.) 

Acer  rubrum,  Linn.     Red  maple.     Diffused. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  80.  The  wood  is  much  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  Windsor  chairs,  gun-stocks,  etc. ;  the  grain 
is  sometimes  beautifully  curled.  In  a  communication  re- 
ceived from  I.  Douglass,  M.  D.,  of  Chester  district,  S.  C, 
his  correspondent,  Mr.  McKeown,  states  that  the  country 
people  consider  a  strong  decoction  of  the  bark,  with  white 
sugar,  used  as  a  wash,  a  safe  and  certain  cure  for  ordinary 
ophthalmia.  Some  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Western 
states  make  sugar  by  boiling  down  the  sap  of  the  white 
maple,  which,  however,  like  that  'of  the  red  maple,  yields 
only  half  the  proportion  of  sugar  obtained  from  the  juice 
of  the  sugar  maple.     Farmer's  Encyc. 


80 

Acer  saccharinum,  Linn.  Sugar  maple.  Var.  Florida- 
num,  found  in  South  Florida.  Chap.  Diffused,  but  more 
abundant'  in  the  upper  districts ;  found  sparingly  at  the 
head  waters  of  Cooper  river ;  St.  John's,  Berkley ;  New- 
bern.     Fl.  Feb. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  90.  Pure  flake  manna  has  been 
discovered  in  this  species.  Sugar  extracted  from  it  is  an 
article  of  trade  ;  it  is  employed  medicinally  also.  The 
wood  is  esteemed  in  the  manufacture  of  saddle-trees.  The 
grain  of  the  wood  is  fine  and  close,  and  when  polished  it 
has  a  silky  lustre. 

The  timber  of  old  trees  is  extensively  used  in  America 
for  inlaying  mahogany  ;  and  it  possesses,  in  an  eminent 
degree,  the  same  kind  of  bird's-eye  markings  which  distin- 
guish the  timber  of  the  Norway  maple.  The  wood  is  heavy 
and  strong,  but  not  durable.  The  ashes  are  very  rich  in 
alkaline  matter,  and  furnish  a  large  proportion  of  the  potash 
which  is  imported  to  Europe  from  New  York  and  Boston. 
Rural  Cyc.  I  have  seen  the  sugar  maple  boxed  as  low 
down  as  Middle  Virginia,  but  have  never  heard  of  any 
sugar  being  made  from  the  tree  in  states  south  of  Virginia. 
Maple  and  sweet  gum  barks,  with  copperas,  will  dye  a  pur- 
ple color;  maple,  red  oak  bark,  and  copperas  to  fix  it,  will 
dye  dove  color ;  maple,  with  bark  of  black  walnut  [Juglans 
nigra),  gives  a  brown  color;  sweet  gum,  with  copperas, 
yields  a  color  nearly  black.  See,  also,  "Quercus,"  "Hopea," 
etc. ;  see  Boussingault's  Treatise,  "  Rural  Economy,  in  its 
Relation  to  Chemistry,  Physics,  etc.,"  p.  125,  for  valuable 
instruction  on  cultivation,  production,  etc.,  of  sugar  from 
maple,  beet,  etc  ;  also,  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufac- 
tures, and  Mines,  article  "Sugar,  beet,  etc."  Wilson,  in  his 
Rural  Cyc,  article  "Acer,"  which  the  reader  may  consult, 
states  that  the  sap  of  the  maple  also  contains  ammonia,  and 
has,  therefore,  all  the  conditions  for  forming  the  nitroge- 
nous components  of  the  branches,  leaves,  and  blossoms ; 
and  in  proportion  as  these  parts  of  the  tree  are  developed, 
it  gradually  loses  its  ammonia,  and  when  they  are  com- 
pletely formed  it  ceases  to  flow.     Rural  Cyc.     Liebig  dis- 


81 

covered  that  ammonia  was  emitted  from  this  juice  when 
mixed  with  lime.  The  sugar  crystallized  spontaneously. 
The  American  practice  with  the  sugar  maple  is  to  bore  two 
auger  holes,  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  half 
an  inch  deeper  than  the  bark,  in  an  obliquely  ascending- 
direction,  on  the  south  side  of  the  tree,  at  the  height  of 
about  eighteen  or  twenty  inches  from  the  ground,  in  Feb- 
ruary or  March,  while  the  snow  is  on  the  ground,  and  the 
cold  is  still  intense,  and  to  insert  into  the  holes  elder  or 
sumac  tubes,  partially  laid  open,  eight  or  ten  inches  in 
length,  and  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  commu- 
nicating at  the  lower  end  with  troughs  of  two  or  three 
gallons  in  capacity,  for  the  reception  of  the  sap.  Four 
gallons  are  usually  sufficient  to  yield  one  pound  of  sugar; 
and  eight  to  sixteen  gallons  are  usually  obtained  in  a  season 
from  a  single  tree  —  this  must  depend  upon  the  locality. 
Op.  cit.     I  insert  the  following  from  Farmer's  Encyc. : 

"In  a  central  situation,  lying  convenient  to  the  trees  from 
which  the  sap  is  drawn,  a  shed  is  constructed,  called  a 
sugar-camp,  which  is  destined  to  shelter  the  boilers  and  the 
persons  who  tend  them  from  the  weather.  An  auger, 
three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  small  troughs  to 
receive  the  sap,  tubes  of  elder  or  sumac,  eight  or  ten  inches 
long,  corresponding  in  size  to  the  auger,  and  laid  open  for 
a  part  of  their  length,  buckets  for  emptying  the  troughs 
and  conveying  the  sap  to  the  camp,  boilers  of  fifteen  or 
eighteen  gallons  capacity,  moulds  to  receive  the  syrup 
when  reduced  to  a  proper  consistency  for  being  formed 
into  cakes,  and,  lastly,  axes  to  cut  and  split  the  fuel,  are 
the  principal  utensils  employed  in  the  operation.  The 
trees  are  perforated  in  an  obliquely  ascending  direction, 
eighteen  or  twenty  inches  from  the  ground,  with  two  holes 
four  or  five  inches  apart.  Care  should  be  taken  that  the 
augers  do  not  enter  more  than  half  an  inch  within  the 
wood,  as  experience  has  shown  the  most  abundant  flow  of 
sap  to  take  place  at  this  depth.  It  is  also  recommended 
to  insert  the  tubes  on  the  south  side  of  the  tree ;  but  this 
useful  hint  is  not  always  attended  to. 
6 


82 

"A  trough  is  placed  on  the  ground  at  the  foot  of  each 
tree,  and  the  sap  is  every  day  collected  and  temporarily 
poured  into  casks,  from  which  it  is  drawn  out  to  fill  the 
boilers.  The  evaporation  is  kept  up  by  a  brisk  fire,  and 
the  scum  is  carefully  taken  off  during  this  part  of  the  pro- 
cess. Fresh  sap  is  added  from  time  to  time,  and  the  heat 
is  maintained  till  the  liquid  is  reduced  to  a  syrup,  after 
which  it  is  left  to  cool,  and  then  strained  through  a  blanket, 
or  other  woollen  stuff,  to  separate  the  remaining  impurities. 

"  Some  persons  recommend  leaving  the  syrup  twelve 
hours  before  boiling  it  for  the  last  time ;  others  proceed 
with  it  immediately.  In  either  case  the  boilers  are  only 
half  filled,  and  by  an  active,  steady  heat  the  liquor  is  rap- 
idly reduced  to  the  proper  consistency  for  being  poured 
into  the  moulds.  The  evaporation  is  known  to  have  pro- 
ceeded far  enough  when,  upon  rubbing  a  drop  of  the  syrup 
between  the  fingers,  it  is  perceived  to  be  granular.  If  it  is 
in  danger  of  boiling  over,  a  bit  of  lard  or  of  butter  is 
thrown  into  it,  which  instantly  calms  the  ebullition.  The 
molasses  being  drained  off  from  the  moulds,  the  sugar  is 
no  longer  deliquescent,  like  the  raw  sugar  of  the  West 
Indies. 

"Maple  sugar  manufactured  in  this  way  is  lighter  col- 
ored, in  proportion  to  the  care  with  which  it  is  made,  and 
the  judgment  with  which  the  evaporation  is  conducted. 
It  is  superior  to  the  brown  sugar  of  the  colonies,  at  least, 
to  such  as  is  generally  used  in  the  United  States ;  its  taste 
is  as  pleasant,  and  it  is  as  good  for  culinary  purposes. 
When  refined,  it  equals  in  beauty  the  finest  sugar  con- 
sumed in  Europe.  It  is  made  use  of,  however,  only  in  the 
districts  where  it  is  made,  and  there  only  in  the  country ; 
from  prejudice  or  taste,  imported  sugar  is  used  in  all  the 
small  towns,  and  in  the  inns. 

"The  sap  continues  to  flow  for  six  weeks ;  after  which 
it  becomes  less  abundant,  less  rich  in  saccharine  matter, 
and  sometimes  even  incapable  of  crystallization.  In  this 
case  it  is  consumed  in  the  state  of  molasses,  which  is  su- 
perior to  that  of  the  islands.     After  three  or  four  days 


83 

exposure  to  the  sun,  maple  sap  is  converted  into  vinegar, 
by  the  acetous  fermentation.  The  amount  of  sugar  manu- 
factured in  a  year  varies  from  different  causes.  A  cold 
and  dry  winter  renders  the  trees  more  productive  than  a 
changeable  and  humid  season.  It  is  observed  that  when  a 
frosty  night  is  followed  by  a  dry  and  brilliant  day  the  sap 
flows  abundantly  ;  and  two  or  three  gallons  are  sometimes 
yielded  by  a  single  tree  in  twenty-four  hours.  Three  per- 
sons are  found  sufficient  to  tend  two  hundred  and  fifty 
trees,  which  give  one  thousand  pounds  of  sugar,  or  four 
pounds  from  each  tree.  But  this  product  is  not  uniform, 
for  many  farmers  on  the  Ohio  do  not  commonly  obtain 
more  than  two  pounds  from  a  tree.  Trees  which  grow  in 
low  and  moist  places  afford  a  greater  quantity  of  sap  than 
those  which  occupy  rising  grounds,  but  it  is  less  rich  in  the 
saccharine  principle.  That  of  insulated  trees,  left  standing 
in  the  middle  of  fields  or  by  the  side  of  fences,  is  the  best. 
It  is  also  remarked  that,  in  districts  which  have  been 
cleared  of  other  trees,  and  even  of  the  less  vigorous  sugar 
maples,  the  product  of  the  remainder  is,  proportionally, 
most  considerable.  'Having  introduced,'  says  a  writer, 
'  twenty  tubes  into  a  sugar  maple,  I  drew  from  it  the  same 
day  twenty-three  gallons  and  three  quarts  of  sap,  which 
gave  seven  and  a  quarter  pounds  of  sugar ;  thirty-three 
pounds  have  been  made  this  season  from  the  same  tree, 
which  supposes  one  hundred  gallons  of  sap.'  It  appears 
here  that  only  a  little  more  than  three  gallons  was  required 
for  a  pound,  though  four  are  commonly  allowed." 

Sapindaceje.     [Soapberry  Tribe.) 

Sajnndus  marginatns.  "Willd.  Soapberry.  Florida  and 
Georgia,  near  the  coast. 

The  skin  of  the  fruit  of  S.  emarginatus  is  said  to  be  used 
in  India  for  the  same  purposes  as  soap.  That  of  the  S. 
scqwnaria,  which  grows  in  the  West  Indies,  is  employed  for 
washing  linen,  but  when  employed  often  is  apt  to  burn  and 
destroy  it ;  the  nuts  are  very  smooth,  and  of  a  shining 
black  color,  and  were  formerly  imported  to  England  and 


84 

manufactured  into  buttons,  which  were  sometimes  tipped 
with  silver,  and  always  very  durable.  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. 
Our  species  should  be  examined.  It  will  be  observed  that 
it  is  very  nearly  related  to  the  buckeye  (JSscidus),  the  roots 
of  which  are  also  used  for  washing  woollens.  See,  also, 
"  Saponaria,"  in  this  paper. 

^EscuLACEiB.     ( The  Horse  Chestnut  Tribe.) 

The  seeds  contain  a  great  quantity  of  a  nutritive  starch  ; 
also  a  sufficient  amount  of  potash  to  be  useful  as  cosmetics, 
or  as  a  substitute  for  soap. 

jEsculus pav(a,Ti.  Horse  chestnut;  buckeye.  Diffused. 
I  have  observed  it  in  Greenville,  Fairfield,  and  Charleston 
districts ;  vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach.     Fl.  May. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  105 ;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  214.  The 
fruit  is  about  the  .size  of  a  small  lemon,  and  of  a  beauti- 
fully polished  mahogany  color  externally ;  it  contains  a 
great  deal  of  starch.  Dr.  Woodhouse  prepared  a  half  a 
pint  from  the  nuts,  which  retained  its  color  for  two  years. 
It  is  superior  to  the  famous  Portland  starch,  and  does  not 
impart  a  yellow  color  to  cloth.  It  is  said  that  the  washing 
from  this  is  narcotic  and  poisonous.  Dr.  McDowel  tried  the 
powder  of  the  rind,  and  states  that  ten  grains  were  equiva- 
lent to  three  of  opium ;  a  strong  decoction  is  recommended 
as  a  lotion  to  gangrenous  ulcers.  A  strong  decoction  of  the 
root  is  said  to  relieve  toothache  when  held  in  the  mouth. 
The  fresh  kernels,  macerated  in  water,  mixed  with  wheat 
flour  into  a  stiff'  paste,  and  thrown  in  pools  of  standing 
Water,  intoxicate  fish,  so  that  they  float  on  the  surface,  and 
may  be  taken ;  reviving,  however,  when  placed  in  fresh 
water.  I  am  informed  that  large  quantities  were  formerly 
caught  in  this  way  in  the  swamps  along  the  Santee  river. 
See,  also,  Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes.  The  roots  are  preferred 
even  to  soap  for  washing  and  whitening  woollens,  blankets, 
and  dyed  cottons — the  colors  of  which  are  improved  by 
the  process.  Satins  washed  in  this  manner,  and  carefully 
ironed,  look  almost  as  well  as  new. 


.85 

Polygalace^.     {The  Milkwort  Tribe.) 

Bitterness  in  the  leaves,  and  milk  in  the  roots,  are  their 
usual  characteristics. 

Polygala  Senega,  L.  Seneka  snakeroot ;  mountain  flax. 
Mountainous  districts  of  S.  C.     Fl.  July. 

Thornton's  Fam.  Herb.  629.  An  active  stimulant,  in- 
creasing the  force  of  the  circulation,  especially  that  of  the 
pulmonary  vessels ;  hence,  found  very  useful  in  typhoid 
inflammation  of  the  lungs.  Dr.  Brandreth,  of  Liverpool, 
has  derived  great  service  from  its  employment,  in  cases  of 
lethargy,  in  the  form  of  an  extract  combined  with  carb. 
ammonias.  It  has  been  given  in  hydropic  cases,  and  as  it 
sometimes  provokes  plentiful  discharges  by  urine,  stool, 
and  perspiration,  it  is  frequently  the  means  of  removing 
the  disease  after  the  ordinary  cathartics,  diuretics,  and 
hydragogues  have  failed.  The  Indians  used  it  in  snake 
bites;  given  internal]}7  and  applied  topically ;  if  beneficial, 
it  only  acts  as  a  diffusible  stimulant ;  it  is  administered, 
also,  as  a  gargle  in  croup.  A  principle  called  senegin  has 
been  discovered  in  it;  and  one  by  Eeschier,  called  poty- 
galic  acid.  Anevenne  is  also  said  to  have  detected  two: 
polygalic  and  Virgineic — the  first  of  which  will  unite  with 
bases ;  the  second  volatile,  oily,  nauseant,  and  emetic  in 
small,  diaphoretic,  expectorant,  and  diuretic  in  large  doses. 
Stephens  &  Church,  103.  See  Analysis  in  Journal  de 
Pharm.  xxii,  449.  One  of  the  principles  referred  to  is 
said  not  to  differ  from  saponine.  Supplem.  to  the  Diet,  de 
M.  Med.  by  Mer.  and  de  L.  1846,  578;  M.  Guibourt,  in  his 
"Abridged  Hist,  of  Simple  Drugs"  (in  French);  Carson's 
Illust.  Med.  Bot.  1847,  pt.  i ;  L.  Feneulle's  Annal.  Journal 
de  Pharm.  ii,  430.  It  has  been  employed  in  pleurisy.  See 
Tennent's  Essay  on  that  disease;  Duhame,  Mem.  de  l'Acad. 
de  Paris,  1739,  144;  McKensie's  Med.  Obs.  and  Enquiries, 
ii,  288  ;  De  Haen.  Ratio  Medendi :  F.  d'Ammon  "sur  l'em- 
ploi  et  l'utilite  de  la  racine  du  P.  senega  dans  plusieurs  mal 
del'ceil";  Annal.  de  Chim.  de  Heidelberg.     Dr.  Ammon,  of 


Dresden,  in  his  paper,  employs  it  in  ophthalmias,  after  the 
inflamniatoiy  stage  is  passed;  it  is  said  to  prevent  the 
formation  of  cataract,  and  to  promote  the  absorption  of 
pus  in  hypopium  ;  he  reports  two  cases ;  it  is  adapted,  in 
fact,  to  all  cases  of  exudation,  by  its  power  of  promoting 
discharge.  Suite  des  Experiences  in  Bull,  des  Sci.  Med. 
xx,  241.  Bretonneau  gave  four  to  five  grains,  every  hour, 
in  croup ;  it  opposes  the  formation  of  the  diphtheritic 
membrane.  Bull,  des  Sci.  Med.  de  Ferus.  xi,  61 ;  Mem. 
sur  le  Senega,  Acad,  des  Sci.  See  Merat,  loc.  cit.  Dr. 
Milne  spoke  highly  of  the  decoction,  joined  with  bitartrate 
of  potash,  in  dropsy.  Dr.  Percival  administered  it  in 
hydrops  pectoris.  If  the  decoction  causes  vomiting,  some 
aromatic,  angelica,  calamus,  or  fennel,  may  be  added.  It  is 
prescribed  as  a  drink  in  pneumonia,  pleurisy,  and  typhoid 
fever.  Linnaeus,  in  his  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  137,  speaks  of- 
this  plant  as  a  specific  in  croup  [specificum  in  phlogose 
hinc  officinis  nostris  dignissima).  Lincl.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  87. 
Stimulant,  diuretic,  sialagogue,  expectorant,  purgative, 
emetic,  sudorific,  and  also  emmenagogue.  U.  S.  Disp. 
649;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  27;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  ii,  111; 
Mer.  and  de  L.  v,  424;  Diet,  des  Sci.  Med.  Ii,  1;  Journal 
de  Chim.  Med.  ii,  431  ;  Journal  Analyt.  i,  339.  Employed 
in  nervous  affections,  and  hectic  fever ;  in  hydrothorax, 
from  its  stimulating  effect  on  the  kidneys,  and  in  diseases 
of  the  lungs,  from  its  augmenting  the  absorbent  forces. 
Anc.  Journal  de  Med.  lxxvi,  53 ;  Detharding,  Diss,  de 
Senega,  1749;  C.  Linn.  Diss,  upon  the  Root  of  the  Senega, 
Argentorati,  1750;  Kielhon,  Diss.  Frankfort,  1765;  Hel- 
minth, at  Edinburgh,  1782;  G.  Folchi,  "Rech.  chimico 
Therap.  sur  la  racine  du  polygala  du  Virginie."  In  pneu- 
monia, after  bleeding,  and  in  the  typhoid  stage,  it  is  one  of 
our  best  remedies  for  promoting  expectoration  ;  at  an  ear- 
lier period,  it  is  too  stimulating.  Much  use  is  made  of  it 
on  the  plantations  in  South  Carolina  for  this  purpose. 
According  to  Dr.  Bree,  it  is  eminently  useful  in  the  asthma 
of  old  people,  and  in  the  latter  stages  of  croup.  It  has 
been  employed  successfully  in  chronic  rheumatism,  and  Dr. 


87 

Chapman  also  found  it  very  efficacious  in  recent  cases  of 
amenorrhcea.  Frost's  Eleras.  258 ;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot. 
225;  Archer's  Med.  and  Phys.  Journal,  i,  83;  Bree  on 
Asthma,  258;  Massie's  Inaug.  Diss.  Phil.  1808;  Thacher's 
Disp.  319;  N".  Eng.  Journal,  vii,  206.  In  croup,  it  is  often 
given  in  the  form  of  hive  syrup  ;  the  best  form,  however, 
is  a  decoction  made  by  boiling  one  ounce  of  root  in  one 
pint  and  a  half  of  water,  till  it  is  reduced  to  a  pint,  the 
dose  of  which  is  a  tablespoonful ;  thirty  grains  of  the 
powdered  root  may  be  given  in  substance.  This  plant  is 
employed  by  the  steam  practitioners.  See  Howard's  Syst. 
of  Bot.  Med.  343. 

Polygala  sangmnea,  L.  ISTutt.  Grows  in  flat,  pine  lands ; 
abundantly  near  Pittsburg;  sent  to  me  from  Abbeville  by 
Mr.  Reed ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Bach.     Fl.  June. 

Lind.  UTat.  Syst.  Bot.  86 ;  Barton's  Med.  Bot.  ii,  17.  A 
stimulating  diaphoretic,  similar,  it  is  supposed,  in  properties 
to  the  above.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  v,  424 ; 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  225. 

Poli/gala  'pauctfolia,  Willd.  Grows  in  the  mountains  of 
South  Carolina.     Fl.  August. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  227^  Rafmesqiie,  in  his  Med.  Flora, 
says  it  is  possessed  of  active  properties ;  the  root  having  a 
sweet,  pungent,  aromatic  taste,  similar  to  that  of  the  winter- 
green  (Gaultheria  jwocumb.) ;  he  thinks  it  milder  than  the 
P.  senega,  and,  therefore,  adapted  to  cases  in  which  that  is 
inapplicable.  Griffith  does  not  agree  with  him,  attributing 
to  it  merely  tonic  and  bitter  properties. 

Polygala  jjolygama,  "Walter.     Vicinity  of  Charleston. 
U.  S.  Disp.  558. 

Cedrelaceye.     (Mahogany  Tribe.) 
Swietenia  mahagoni,  L.    Mahogany.    South  Florida.    Chap. 

So.  Flora. 

This  tree  is  cut  down  in  August.     See  description  of 

method  pursued  in  Honduras,  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. 


The  uses  of  the  wood  are  so  well  known  as  to  need  no 
farther  description. 

The  bark  may,  it  is  said,  be  used  as  Peruvian  bark.  I  do 
not  know  that  the  tree  is  "exploited"  in  Florida. 

LinacExE.     (The  Flax  Tribe.) 

Linum  usitatissimum.  Flax.  Cultivated  in  South  Caro-. 
lina. 

It  is  cultivated  here  pretty  much  on  account  of  the  seeds, 
which  are  well  known  for  their  valuable  demulcent  proper- 
ties, and  for  the  linseed  oil  which  they  afford.  Immediate 
attention  should  be  paid  to  raising  on  a  very  much  larger 
scale  both  this  plant,  the  mustard,  and  the  castor  oil.  Flax 
matures  well  in  this  latitude.  For  much  useful  information 
in  reference  to  the  economical  application  of  this  plant,  see 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  Sup.  1846,  435.   . 

Among  the  thread  plants  may  be  mentioned  Flax  (Linum 
usitatissimum),  Perennial  flax  (Linum  perenne),  Hemp  (Can- 
nabis sativa),  Virginian  silk  (Asclepias  syriaca),  Common 
nettle  ( Urtica  dioica),  and  the  Rosebay  willow  herb  (Epilo- 
bium  angustifolium).  The  three  latter  are  all  found  growing 
wild  in  South  Carolina.  The  asclepias  was  planted  for  the 
purpose  in  Germany,  but  is  an  imperfect  substitute  for 
hemp  or  flax.  See  A.  syriaca  in  this  volume.  The  stem  of 
the  hop  has  also  been  used  for  the  production  of  thread. 
They  require  farther  examination.  See  Thaer's  work, 
"Principles  of  Agriculture,"  p.  461.  Hemp  seeds  also 
yield  oil. 

The  best  drying  oils,  Chaptal  states  ("  Chemistry  applied 
to  Agriculture,"  p.  145),  are  those  of  flax  seed,  nuts,  and 
poppies.  Linseed  oil  will  dissolve  at  boiling  temperature 
one-quarter  of  its  weight  of  that  oxide  known  in  commerce 
by  the  name  of  litharge.  It  becomes  brown  in  proportion 
as  the  oxide  is  dissolved ;  when  saturated  with  the  oxide  it 
thickens  by  cooling,  and  it  is  necessary  to  render  it  liquid 
by  heat  at  the  time  of  using  it.  Linseed  oil  saturated  with 
the  oxide  and  applied  with  a  brush  to  any  substance,  hard- 


89 

ens  readily  and  forms  a  coating  impervious  by  water,  and 
much  resembles  gum  elastic ;  linen  or  silk  prepared  with  it 
is  flexible  without  being  adhesive.  A  cement  of  this  oil, 
prepared  with  •  the  oxide  and  mixed  with  the  refuse  or 
broken  fragments  of  porcelain  or  well  baked  potter's  ware, 
is  used  with  great  success  in  uniting  the  tiles  upon  roofs, 
and  in  cisterns  and  reservoirs.  .  To  form  this  cement  the 
pulverized  fragments  are  thoroughly  incorporated  with  the 
heated  oil,  and  applied  by  the  trowel  while  in  that  state. 
When  linseed  oil  is  to  be  used  in  painting,  one-twentieth, 
or  at  the  most,  one-tenth  of  litharge  is  sufficient  to  render 
it  drying. 

"With  linseed  oil  and  common  glue,  a  water-proof  mate- 
rial is  made,  which  may  prove  of  great  use  in  preparing 
garments  for  our  soldiers.  Immerse  common  glue  in  cold 
water  until  it  becomes  perfectly  soft,  but  yet  retaining  its 
original  form  ;  after  which  it  is  to  be  dissolved  in  common 
raw  linseed  oil,  assisted  by  a  gentle  heat,  until  it  becomes 
entirely  taken  up  by  the  latter  ;  after  which  it  may  be  ap- 
plied to  substances  for  adhesion  to  each  other,  in  the  way 
common  glue  is  usually  applied.  It  dries  almost  immedi- 
ately, and  water  will  exert  no  action  upon  it.  It  has  more 
tenacity  than  common  glue,  and  becomes  impervious  to 
water.  It  may  be  used  also  for  furniture,  and  two  layers  of 
cloth .  may  be  glued  together  to  form  a  water-proof  gar- 
ment. Glue  dissolved  in  vinegar  also  makes  a  very  tena- 
cious substance  in  place  of  the  prepared  glues.  See  plates 
of  machinery  for  pressing  linseed  and  other  oils,  Ure's  Dic- 
tionary of  Arts,  article  "Oils;"  also  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc, 
articles  "Flax"  and  "Linseed."  The  processes  are  described 
with  plates.  Those  interested  may  find  there  a  full  state- 
ment of  the  method  of  gathering,  planting,  uses,  etc.  See 
also  "Olea,"  in  this  work.  Flax  seed  intended  for  plant- 
ing should  not  be  gathered  too  quickly.  Flax  seed  was 
largely  made  in  western  New  York.  The  yield  is  from  ten 
to  fifteen  bushels  per  acre.  It  is  sown  early  in  the  spring. 
If  raised  merely  for  the  seed,  it  is  harvested  and  thrashed 
like  other  grain.     But  when  the  stalk  is  used,  it  is  pulled 


90 

up  by  a  machine  as  soon  as  the  seed  begins  to  ripen,  and 
bound  in  small  bundles,  the  seed  stripped  off  by  a  machine, 
and  the  stalks  spread  oat  and  dew  rotted;  it  is  then  sold  to 
the  hemp  makers  for  seven  or  eight  dollars  per  ton.  The 
farmer  sells  the  crop  at  one  dollar  per  bushel  for  the  seed, 
which  is  sent  to  the  oil-mill. 

The  reader  interested  in  the  preparation  and  cleaning  of 
the  fibres  of  textile  plants,  will  find  a  paper  upon  the  sub- 
ject, condensed  from  the  Singapore  Free  Press,  in  the  P. 
Office  Rep.  1854,  p.  1T4.  A  description  of  the  simplest  and 
most  economical  modes  of  cleaning  them  is  given.  The 
plantain,  agave,  and  aloe  are  planted  in  India,  and  the 
fibre  exported  for  twine,  paper,  etc. — bringing  from  sixty 
to  two  hundred  dollars  per  ton.  I  do  not  know  that  these 
plants  are  used  in  our  West  -India  islands  or  in  Florida  for 
these  purposes.  The  ordinary  mill  used  in  pressing  sugar- 
cane can  be  used  in  cleaning  the  fibre.    See  article  cited. 

Wilson's  Rural  Cyc,  article  "Bleaching,"  furnishes  a 
practical  explanation  of  the  methods  of  bleaching  flax, 
hemp,  etc.     See  also  Ure's  Dictionary. 

Malvace^.     ( The  Mallow  Tribe.) 

They  abound  in  mucilage,  and  are  totally  destitute  of  all 
unwholesome  qualities. 

Malm  rotundifolia,  L.  Low  mallows.  Naturalized ; 
grows  around  buildings  ;  Richland ;  vicinity  of  Charleston. 
Fl.  June. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  444.  A  substitute  for  M.  sylvestris,  which 
possesses  valuable  demulcent  properties.  Woodv.  Med. 
Bot.  554,  torn.  197.  It  is  very  emollient,  and  is  employed 
in  catarrhal,  dysenteric,  and  nephritic  diseases,  and  wher- 
ever a  mucilaginous  fluid  is  required.  It  is  administered 
in  the  shape  of  emollient  enema,  and  it  forms  a  good  sup- 
purative or  relaxing  cataplasm  in  external  inflammations. 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  207.  It  was  highly 
regarded  by  the  ancients.  "  Pythagore  regardait  leur 
usage  comme  propre  a  favoriser  l'exercise  de  la  pensee." 


91 

Hippocrates  employed  it  as  we  do,  for  gargles  and  collyri- 
uras,  as  an  application  to  heated  and  inflamed  parts,  as  a 
vehicle  for  pectoral  and  anodyne  medicines,  and  for  those 
administered  in  diseases  of  the  urinary  passages. 

Abutilon  Avicmnce,  Gaertn.,  T.  and  G.  "I      Indian  mallows. 

Sida  abutilon,  Linn,  and  Ell.  Sk.  j  Grows  at  Granby, 

in  Richland  district,  and  in  Georgia;  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton.    Bach.     Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  96  ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  vi,  338.  The  plant  is  said  to  be  cultivated  in  China 
as  a  substitute  for  hemp.  The  flowers  are  employed  as  an 
ingredient  in  emollient  applications. 

Abutilon  and  Sida.  Species  of  these  two  genera  have 
been  used  in  medicine.  *S'.  abutilon  is  cultivated  in  India 
for  the  fibre,  and  somewhat  extensively  introduced  into 
field  culture  in  Italy.  See  Rural  Cyc,  Chap.  So.  Flora. 
Our  Abutilons  should  be  examined;  several  grow  in  South 
Carolina. 

Hibiscus  Moscheutos,  L.  Marsh  mallow.  Collected  in 
St.  John's ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  Newbern. 

Bergius,  M.  Med.  ii,  629.  This  also  is  possessed  of  de- 
mulcent properties ;  a  convenient  substitute  for  the  above. 

Hibiscus  esculentus.     Okra.     Introduced  from  Africa. 

The  fruit  and  pods  afford  the  well-known  valuable  vege- 
table, so  largely  used  in  the  Southern  states  in  combination 
with  tomatoes  in  making  soup.  It  is  very  mucilaginous, 
and,  infused  in  water,  forms  a  suitable  vehicle  for  medi- 
cines prescribed  in  diseases  of  the  mucous  passages,  for 
enemata,  etc.  Some  information  on  this  plant  may  be  ob- 
tained in  the  Journal  de  Pharm.  vi,  383.  The  parched  seeds 
afford  a  tolerably  good  substitute  for  coffee ;  the  difference 
can  with  difficulty  be  detected.  It  is  sometimes  used  for 
this  purpose  among  the  negroes  on  the  plantations  of  South 
Carolina. 


92 

This  well-known  vegetable  contains  an  enormous  amount 
of  albumen — so  much,  that  Chaptal  says  that  in  St.  Do- 
mingo it  is  employed  in  clarifying  liquors.  In  Guadeloupe 
and  Martinique  they  use  the  bark  of  the  slippery  elm  "for 
this  purpose  as  white  of  egg  elsewhere.  It  would  be  a 
matter  of  importance  to' ascertain  whether  or  not  vegetable 
albumen  would  be  useful  in  clarifying  sugar.  In  employ- 
ing albumen  for  clarifying  fluids  the  following  method  is 
adopted,  according  to  the  writer  just  mentioned.  I  would 
refer  the  reader  also  to  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts  and  Manu- 
factures. The  albumen,  generally  white  of  egg,  is  diluted 
with  water,  and  then  mixed  with  the  liquid  which  is  to  be 
clarified;  the  whole  is  then  heated  to  65°  or  70°  Faki\,  and 
stirred  carefully  so  as  to  distribute  the  albumen  equally 
among  all  its  particles;  by  increasing  the  heat  the  albumen 
is  made  to  coagulate,  when  it  rises  to  the  top  of  the  vessel, 
carrying  with  it  all  the  particles,  which  render  the  liquid 
turbid  or  cloudy ;  the  thick  foam  which  this  produces, 
when  cooled,  may  be  taken  off  with  a  skimmer,  and  the 
liquid  be  afterward  filtrated,  to  remove  any  remaining 
particles  from  it.  The  same  writer  says  that  animal  albu- 
men, mixed  with  quick-lime,  finely  powdered  and  spread 
upon  strips  of  linen,  makes  an  excellent  lute,  to  be  ap- 
#  plied  over  the  joints  of  vessels  for  distilling,  to  prevent 
loss  of  gas  or  vapor. 

The  Sesamum  indicum,  Bene,  is  another  plant  cultivated 
on  our  plantations  which  has  a  very  large  amount  of 
mucilage. 

The  okra  plant  has  been  recommended  to  be  planted  for 
the  fibre  as  a  textile  substance.  Even  the  cotton  plant,  if 
not  allowed  to  come  to  maturity,  and  planted  closer,  like 
flax  and  hemp,  might  furnish  an  inner  bark  suitable  for 
twine  or  cloth.  The  Urtica  dioica,  nettle,  and  Apocynum  can- 
nabinum,  Indian  hemp,  and  several  species  of  asclepias,  or 
silk  weed,  may,  by  improved  cultivation,  give  a  useful 
fibre  ;  see  index.  Dr.  Gr.  C.  Shaefler,  the  author  of  a  paper 
in  P.  O.  Eep.,  373,  1859,  on  "  Vegetable  fibre,"  states  that 
the  fibre  of  the  silk  or  milk-weed  [A.  cornuti)  "  was  nearly  if 


93 

not  quite  as  strong  as  the  hemp."  In  this  article,  the  mode 
of  preparing  textile  fibres  is  treated  of,  and  also  the  best 
materials  for  paper  making.  A  curious  work,  by  Dr.  J.  C. 
ShaefFer,  1765,  is  referred  to,  in  which  experiments  were 
long  since  performed  upon  innumerable  substances  suited 
to  the  making  of  paper.  The  latest  work  of  consequence 
has  been  published  by  L.  Piette,  1838.  Piette  gives  speci- 
mens of  good,  strong,  white  paper  made  from  straw.  Paper 
in  the  United  States  was  also  made  from  wood,  sawdust, 
and  shavings,  in  1828  and  '30.  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts  ma}7 
also  be  consulted  for  machinery,  etc.  Bark  of  linden  is 
used  in  Prussia.  See  Tilia.  And  the  palmetto,  agave,  and 
yucca  of  the  South  furnish  a  long  fibre.  When  necessary, 
the  intercellular  substance  may  be  dissolved  out  by  strong 
alkalies — the  lye  from  the  ashes  of  plants,  etc.  For  ma- 
terial for  paper  making  see  "Cotton." 
.  The  New  Orleans  Crescent  says  of  coffee  : 
The  supplies  of  many  articles  of  consumption  are  run- 
ning very  low.  In  the  meantime  substitutes  have  been 
proposed,  among  which  is  named  the  okra  seed.  As  re- 
gards this,  the  thought  of  its  becoming  a  substitute  may 
as  well  be  laid  aside  at  once,  for  there  are  not  twenty-five 
sacks  of  the  seed  available.  The  chief  substitute  will  have 
to  be  r3re.  This  cereal  was  used  during  the  war  of  1812. 
In  fact,  half  of  the  ground  coffee  which  has  been  sold  in 
New  York  and  Boston  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  was 
composed  chiefly  of  rye. 

Gossypium  herbaceum,  Linri.  Cotton.  A  native  of  trop- 
ical America.  The  long  staple,  including  the  varieties  of 
sea-island,  black  seed,  and  mains,  grows  best  in  the  lower 
country ;  and  the  short,  or  green  seed,  in  the  upper  dis- 
tricts. Prescott  states  that  the  Spaniards  found  it  in  Mex- 
ico.    See  "Conquest  of  Mexico." 

Mer  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  Supplem.  1846.  This 
was  the  plant  known  to  the  ancients  as  the  Byssus  of  old 
writers.  Herodotus,  t.  iii,  134,  of  Durger's  Ed. ;  Chateau- 
briand, Journal  to  Jerusalem,  1777 ;  see  R6vue  Medicale, 


94 

Feb.  1845,  225,  for  Observations  on  the  Employment  of 
the  Cotton  Fibre  in  Dressing  Wounds ;  Ann.  de  Chimie, 
427,  1845 ;  Binol's  Letters  on  the  Cultivation  of  Cotton  in 
India ;  C.  Delasterie  on  the  G.  herbacea  and  its  Cultiva- 
tion, Paris,  1808;  Lessier  sur  la  Culture  du  Coton  en 
France ;  Gerspach,  Considerations  sur  l'iniluence  des  fila- 
tures du  Coton  sur  la  sante  des  ouvriers,  Paris,  182,7 ;  Obs. 
on  the  Employment  of  Cotton  in  the  Treatment  of  Blis- 
ters, 1830  ;  Some  Reflections  by  F.  T.  Saint  Hilaire  on 
"Wounds,  and  their  Treatment  with  Cotton  (in  French), 
Montp.  1830 ;  Sicand,  Obs.  on  the  Employment  of  the 
Cotton  Fibre  in  Surgery,  and  a  Memoir  on  the  different 
Species  cultivated  in  Naples,  op.  cit.  sup. ;  Griffith,  Med. 
Bot.  163  ;  Dr.  MacFayden  (Fl.  Jamaica)  considers  the  spe- 
cies only  as  varieties.  Humboldt  saw  them  growing  in 
Central  America  at  an  elevation  of  nine  thousand  feet. 
The  flowers  are  emollient  like  mallows,  and  used  for  simi- 
lar purposes ;  the  roots  are  used  in  India  in  diseases  of  the 
urinary  organs.  See  Ainslie.  In  Brazil,  a  decoction  of 
the  leaves  steeped  in  vinegar  is  said  to  relieve  hemicrania. 
According  to  Martin,  the  seeds,  which  afford  much  oil, 
are  emollient,  and  are  employed  in  emulsions,  injections, 
and  diseases  of  mucous  passages.  The  oil  is  afforded  by 
the  seeds  in  sufficiently  large  quantities  to  be  exported.  It 
might  be  made  a  useful  article  on  the  plantations,  as  it 
does  not  deprive  the  seeds  of  their  valuable  properties  as  a 
manure.  When  boiled,  they  furnish  an  excellent  food  for 
cattle,  but  are  poisonous  to  hogs  when  eaten  in  the  raw 
state.  Much  use  is  made  of  the  roots  in  this  state,  in  the 
treatment  of  asthma — a  decoction  being  employed.  It 
appears  to  have,  moreover,  a  specific  action  on  the  uterine 
organs.  Dr.  Heady,  of  Edgefield  district,  informs  me  that 
his  attention  was  called  to  its  emmenagogue  properties  by 
an  article  which  appeared  in  a  journal  published  some 
years  since.  (New  Orleans  Med.  Journal.)  He  has  since 
used  it  in  suppression  of  the  menses,  but  more  particularly 
in  many  cases  of  flooding,  with  entire  success.  It  seems 
to  produce  as   active  contractions  of  the  uterus  as  ergot 


95 

itself.  Three  ounces  of  the  root  are  infused  in  one  pint  of 
boiling  water,  of  which  from  three  to  four  ounces  are  taken 
internally  every  fifteen  minutes.  More  extended  experi- 
ments with  this  remarkable  plant,  in  cases  of  this  descrip- 
tion, might  furnish  very  valuable  results,  and  I  would 
invite  particular  attention  to  it.  See  also  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii, 
568;  Med.  and  Surg.  Journal,  xiii,  215;  U.  S.  Disp.  357; 
Lond.  Med.  Gazette,  Nov.  8,  1839;  West.  Journal  Med. 
and  Surg.  1840;  Boyle,  Illust.  84,  and  Mat.  Med.  288; 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  409 ;  Marcgrave's 
Brazil,  60;  Diet,  des  Sc.  Nat.  xxxiv,  15;  and  Gov.  W.  B. 
Seabrook's  (of  S.  C.)  paper  on  the  cotton  plant. 

The  fibre  of  our  great  staple  is  applicable  to  many  pur- 
poses in  surgery,  in  dressing  burns,  preserving  the  temper- 
ature of  the  extremities  in  depressed  conditions  of  the 
system,  and  also  for  stuffing  and  padding  in  the  application 
of  fracture  boxes ;  but  it  is  not,  as  has  been  confidently 
stated,  a  substitute  for  lint  in  any  sense  of  the  term.  On 
account  of  the  oil  which  it  contains,  it  cannot  absorb  pus 
or  liquids  from  wounds,  unless  it  has  been  previously  pre- 
pared. This,  indeed,  is  a  peculiarity  of  cotton  fibre  in  its 
natural  state:  water  or  fluids  will  roll  from  it;  the  slightest 
experience  or  observation  would  convince  any  one  of  this ; 
and  yet  it  has  been  extensively  distributed  as  a  substance 
for  dressing  wounds,  which  it  only  tends  to  render  hotter 
and  more  inflamed. 

The  plant  has  also  been  highly  recommended  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  quinine  in  intermittent  fever.  I  will  refer  the 
reader  to  some  of  the  later  volumes  of  the  Charleston  Med. 
Journal  and  Review.  I  have  not  my  volumes  at  hand  to 
refer  to.  It  has  been  used  with  great  confidence  by  many 
persons  throughout  the  South  and  West.  I  introduce  the 
following  slip  from  a  newspaper  (1862)  in  default  of  more 
precise  information  from  the  medical  authorities  who  have 
used  it. 

II.  D.  Brown,  of  Copiah  county,  Mississippi,  communi- 
cates the  following  notice  of  the  use  of  cotton  seed  tea  as  a 
substitute  for  quinine: 


96 

"  I  beg  to  make  public  the  following  certain  and  thor- 
oughly tried  cure  for  ague  and  fever :  One  pint  of  cotton 
seed,  two  pints  of  water  boiled  down  to  one  of  tea,  taken 
warm  one  hour  before  the  expected  attack.  Many  persons 
will  doubtless  laugh  at  this  simple  remedy,  but  I  have  tried 
it  effectually,  and  unhesitatingly  say  it  is  better  than  qui- 
nine, and  could  I  obtain  the  latter  article  gratuitously,  I 
would  infinitely  prefer  the  cotton  seed  tea.  It  will  not 
only  cure  invariably,  but  permanently,  and  is  not  at  all 
unpleasant  to  the  taste." 

The  seeds  of  the  black  seed  cotton,  parched  and  ground, 
are  considered  by  many  as  one  of  the  best  substitutes  for 
coffee,  both  in  smell  and  taste.  In  a  paper  by  G-.  C. 
Shaeffer,  on  the  cotton  fibre,  Patent  Office  Report,  Agricul- 
ture, 1854,  p.  181,  he  says  :  "Still,  in  the  present  scarcity  of 
paper  making  material,  it  may  be  well  to  look  to  the  bark 
of  the  cotton  plant  as  a  partial  supply  for  the  common  kinds 
of  paper.  Fermentation,  or  any  of  the  known  methods  of 
separating  the  wood,  may  be  employed."  If  the  cotton 
is  gathered,  the  plant  has  then  become  too  woody.  See, 
also,1  Okra  (Hibiscus  esculentus.)  Governor  ~W.  B.  Seabrook, 
of  S.  C,  has  written  perhaps  the  most  full  description  of 
the  cultivation  of  cotton,  in  a  pamphlet  published  a  few 
years  since. 

Townsend  Glover,  entomologist,  employed  by  the  Patent 
Office,  describes  the  diseases  incident  to  the  cotton  plant  in 
his  successive  papers,  in  the  volumes  of  the  Patent  Office 
Report  for  1855-'7,  "  On  the  Insects  frequenting  the  Cotton 
Plant."  These  papers  contain  a  good  deal  of  information 
on  the  character  and  habits  not  only  of  insects  infesting 
cotton,  but  many  other  plants,  with  illustrations  on  wood. 
He  describes  the  rust,  rot,  and  blight,  and  devises  methods 
for  preventing  their  spread.  The  English  use  cotton  dipped 
in  a  solution  of  saltpetre  as  a  moxa;  see  "  Helianihus." 
"Gun  cotton"  is  also  a  well  known  explosive  agent,  pre- 
pared by  means  of  nitric  acid. 

Cotton  Seed  Soap.      The   following   I   obtain   from    the 


97 

Charleston  Mercury:  Put  cotton  seed  into  a  large  and 
strong  iron  pot,  in  small  quantities  at  a  time,  mash  them 
well  with  a  wooden  pestle,  and  then  pour  in  a  certain  quan- 
tity of  common  lye,  and  boil  thoroughly;  strain  in  an  ordi- 
nary sieve,  and  proceed  in  the  usual  way  in  drying  and 
cutting  into  cakes.  The  oil  is  thus  yielded,  and  saponified. 
Machines  are  now  manufactured  in  this  country  for 
decorticating  the  cotton  seed,  in  manufacturing  the  cake. 
It  is  thus  much  improved  as  an  article  of  food  for  cattle, 
not  being  near  so  liable  to  injure  the  animals.  It  brings  a 
high  price  in  England.  Mills  for  the  preparation  of  the 
cake  have  been  established  in  Rhode  Island.  Strange  that 
nothing  of  the  kind  has  existed  in  Charleston,  where  the 
seed  can  be  so  easily  obtained.  The  great  value  of  the 
seed  as  a  manure  may  account  in  part  for  the  indifference 
of  the  planter.  The  seed  has  been  pressed  in  ISTew  Orleans. 
The  oil  is  said  to  be  "unsurpassed  for  dressing  leather  and 
lubricating  machinery,  and  as  an  illuminator  affords  a  clear 
and  brilliant  light"  —  as  good  as  spermaceti,  when  refined. 
See  also  a  paper  on  cotton  seed  oil,  Southern  Cultivator,  p. 
iii,  vol.  3.  He  states  that  there  are  thirty  bushels  of  seed 
to  every  bale  of  cotton  ;  each  bale  will  yield  at  least  fifteen 
gallons  of  crude  oil,  and  three  hundred  and  sixty  barrels 
of  oil  cake.  "No  difficulty  exists  in  hulling,  tempering, 
or  expressing  the  oil,"  and  the  huller  of  Follet  and  Smith, 
of  Petersburg,  is  referred  to  :  hulling  at  the  rate  of  a 
basket  of  kernels  in  four  or  five  minutes.  The  machinery 
employed  in  French  Flanders  for  rape  seed,  answers  per- 
fectly for  cotton  seed. 

Cotton  Seed  OH.  A  good  deal  has  been  said  of  late  in 
the  Cincinnati  and  New  Orleans  papers  on  the  subject  of 
cotton  seed  oil  and  cake ;  and  if  the  half  of  what  is  pub- 
lished shall  turn  out  to  be  true,  we  have  reached  the  beo-in- 
ning  of  a  new  era  in  the  cotton  culture,  not  unlike  that 
which  marked  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin.  Mr.  Wil- 
liam R.  Free,  of  Cincinnati,  has  invented  and  constructed 
a  cotton  seed  huller,  which  entirely  separates  the  hull,  and 
7 


x  98 

the  little  lint  that  adheres  to  it,  from  the  meat  part  of  the 
seed.  The  huller  is  said  to  he  simple  in  construction,  is 
made  entirely  of  iron,  and  is  easily  kept  in  repair.  It 
requires  a  two-horse  power  to  drive  it,  and  two  hands  to 
tend  it  —  one  to  feed  the  mill,  and  one  to  remove  the  hulls 
from  the  screen.  It  will  hull  and  screen  one  ton,  or  two 
thousand  pounds,  per  hour,  ready  for  the  press — fifty  per 
cent,  of  which  is  kernels,  or  the  meats  of  the  seed,  from 
which  forty  gallons  of  oil  may  he  obtained.  This  machine 
must  he  exceedingly  valuable  to  prepare  seed  for  all  feed- 
ing purposes  on  the  farm  where  no  oil  is  expressed,  as  the 
hulls  and  lint  are  altogether  undesirable  as  food.  Hulls 
and  cotton  seed,  and  cut  straw  or  corn  stalks,  boiled 
together  in  large  iron  boilers,  or  steamed  in  big  tubs  or 
vats,  will  make  a  superior  stock  feed.  But  as  a  gallon  of 
this  oil  is  cheap  at  a  dollar,  and  enough  seed  to  make  forty 
gallons  can  be  hulled  in  an  hour,  it  is  far  better  to  feed  the 
cake  after  most  of  the  oil  is  taken  out,  steamed  with  straw 
or  stalks,  than  to  feed  this  precious  oil  to  live  stock.  After 
cotton  seed  is  hulled,  a  good  cotton  press  for  baling  cloth 
will  press  out  most  of  the  oil  in  the  kernels.  Perhaps  they 
may  require  beating,  as  in  pressing  flax  seed.  The  art  is 
very  simple.  Instead  of  sending  cotton  seed  to  distant 
markets,  where  the  producer  will  lose  the  cake  for  feeding, 
and  as  a  fertilizer,  we  earnestly  recommend  to  each  large 
plantation  (or  where  their  operations  are  small,  for  several 
to  unite),  to  purchase  a  hulling  machine,  and,  if  neces- 
sary, construct  or  buy  an  oil  press  for  home  use.  Ac- 
cording to  the  data  furnished  by  the  Cincinnati  operators, 
four  thousand  pounds  of  common  cotton  seed  will  turn 
out  fifty  dollars  worth  of  oil ;  and  every  planter  knows 
that  in  case  he  should  wish  to  mix  the  hulls  with  the 
cake  in  feeding  it,  or  as  a  manure,  he  can  do  so  after 
the  oil  is  expressed.  The  oil  is  nearly  valueless  as  a 
fertilizer,  being  nothing  but  carbon  and  the  elements  of 
water,  while  in  skilful  hands  it  is  worth  some  forty  to  fifty 
cents  a  gallon  for  making  fat  hogs,  sheep,  cows,  and 
steers;  but  more  for  burning,  and  lubricating  machinery. 


99 

At  this  time  we  would  gladly  pay  twenty  dollars  per  one 
thousand  pounds  for  cotton  seed  cake,  to  feed  cattle,  sheep, 
and  hogs.  It  is  worth  more  than  corn  or  wheat,  pound 
for  pound,  to  feed  mules  and  hogs  on  a  cotton  plantation. 
It  contains  more  of  the  muscle,  sinew,  and  bone  forming 
matter.  It  has  less  starch  than  corn,  but  is  a  healthier 
food  than  either  peas,  beans,  wheat,  or  maize.  If  the  hulls 
were  in  the  cake,  the  result  would  be  quite  different.  In 
flax  seed  cake  the  hull  of  the  seed  is  not  removed.  It  is 
owing  to  the  richness  of  the  clean  meats  of  cotton  seed 
that  straw,  or  coarse  forage  of  some  kind,  should  be  fed 
with  the  cake,  except  to  hogs. 

Consequent  upon  the  increased  amount  of  cotton  raised 
in  the  Southern  states,  and  the  great  bulk  of  the  seed,  there 
had  been  several  establishments  in  operation  before  the 
war  for  economizing  the  oil.  At  one  in  New  Orleans, 
driven  by  a  thirty-five  horse  power  steam-press,  five  hun- 
dred gallous  of  oil  and  five  tons  of  oil  cake  a  day  were  pre- 
pared. It  required  for  the  day's  work,  as  is  stated  in  the 
Southern  Farmer  and  Planter,  about  fifteen  tons  of  cotton 
seed  to  produce  this  amount  of  oil  and  cake,  each  ton  of 
seed  yielding  about  forty  gallons  of  oil  and  seven  hundred 
or  eight  hundred  pounds  of  cake.  The  proprietor  shipped 
eight  hundred  tons  to  England,  where  it  was  used  by  the 
farmers,  who  are  extensive  importers  of  linseed  oil  cake. 
The  cotton  seed  cake  "is  highly  esteemed  for  fattening  cat- 
tle and  sheep."  In  Memphis,  Tenn.,  it  was  also  made  in 
very  large  quantities.  The  oil,  refined  by  a  secret  process, 
is  made  of  two  qualities — "  the  best  used  for  illuminating 
and  lubricating  purposes,  as  well  as  for  currying  leather, 
etc.  The  inferior  is  found  to  answer  the  purpose  of  soap 
making  equal  to  palm  oil,  making  soap  of  every  quality, 
even  to  the  most  refined  toilet  soap."  Cotton  seed  cake 
might  be  used  as  a  substitute  to  a  certain  extent  for  corn 
for  fattening  stock.  "  Cotton  seed  meal  and  corn  meal,  if 
applied  directly  to  the  hay  that  is  fed  in  fattening  ani- 
mals, instead  of  the  latter  being  fed  alone  and  dry,  and  the 
corn  unground,  would  add  vastly  to  the  profits  of  fatten- 


100 

ing."     Cotton  seed  cake  sold  at  the  mills  for  about  the 
same  price  that  flax  seed  cake  sold  for. 

Browne,  in  his  "Field  Book  of  Manures,"  New  York, 
1853,  says  of  the  cotton  seeds:  "They  abound  in  a  mild 
oil,  and  are  accounted  very  nutritious  (as  manures)  after  the 
oil  is  expressed.  A  bushel  of  seed  weighs  thirty  pounds, 
and  yields  two  and  a  half  quarts  of  oil,  and  twelve  and  a 
half  pounds  of  fine  meal.  The  oil  cake  is  very  brittle,  and 
breaks  down  much  more  readily  than  linseed  oil  cake.  Its 
taste  is  not  unpleasant,  and  it  is  stated  that  it  can  be 
employed  with  success  in  fattening  stock." 

In  the  Patent  Office  Eeport,  1855,  p.  234,  are  some 
"Chemical  Researches  on  the  Seed  of  the  Cotton  Plant," 
by  Prof.  C.  T.  Jackson.  In  this  article  a  patent  is  referred 
to  as  having  been  taken  out  by  D.  W.  Mesner  for  "separat- 
ing the  hulls  from  the  cotton  seeds."  The  yield  of  the  un- 
prepared and  woolly  seeds  is  very  small,  in  comparison 
with  what  is  obtained  from  those  which  have  been  hulled. 
Analyses  are  given  of  the  oil,  the  seed,  the  cake,  etc. 
Prof.  Jackson  says :  Separation  of  the  oil :  In  order  to  sep- 
arate the  fixed  oil,  pure  ether  was  employed,  and  it  was 
found  that  one  hundred  grains  of  the  dried  pulverized 
seeds  yielded  in  one  experiment  39.7,  and  in  another  40 
per  cent,  of  pure  fatty  oil.  By  pressure,  I  was  able  with  a 
small  screw-press  to  obtain  only  thirty-three  per  cent,  of 
oil ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  a  more  powerful  one  would  have 
given  a  larger  yield.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  oil  which 
I  obtained  from  the  ethereal  solution  was  0.923 — water 
being  unity.  This  is  also  the  specific  gravity  of  purified 
whale  oil.  Cotton  seed  oil  is  stated  by  Dr.  Wood  to  be  a 
drying  oil,  but  that  which  I  have  obtained  does  not  appear 
to  possess  drying  properties,  serving  perfectly  well  for  the 
lubrication  of  machinery,  and  for  burning  in  lamps,  as  well 
as  for  making  soap.  It  will  also  serve  as  a  substitute  for 
olive  oil  in  many  cases,  and  perhaps  may  be  eaten  as  a 
salad  oil,  for  it  has  no  disagreeable  odor  or  taste. 

Chemical  examination  of  the  oil  cake:  Linseed  oil  cake  is 
well  known  both  in  Europe  and  in  this  country  as  valu- 


101 

able  food  for  cattle,  and  as  an  excellent  fertilizer  —  worth 
from  forty  to  fifty  dollars  per  ton  for  the  latter  purpose.  On 
examining  my  cotton  seed  oil  cake,  I  found  it  possessed  a 
sweet  and  agreeable  flavor,  and  was  much  more  pure  and 
clean  than  linseed  oil  cake.  One  hundred  grains  of  the 
seed  leave  sixty  grains  of  oil  cake.  This  cake,  examined 
for  sugar,  was  found  to  contain  1.1  grains,  and  for  gum, 
thirty-five  grains  were  obtained.  Iodine  gave  no  proof  of 
the  existence  of  any  starch  in  cotton  seed,  nor  in  the  oil 
cake.  Alcohol  dissolves  out  the  sugar,  which  is  like  that 
obtained  from  raisins,  and  is  grape  sugar.  Boiling  water 
dissolves  the  gum,  and  becomes  very  mucilaginous.  The 
gum  is  precipitable  from  the  water  by  means  of  pure  alco- 
hol. 

Madura  aurantiaea.  Osage  Orange.  IS.  America.  Not 
included  by  Chapman  in  his  Flora  of  Southern  United 
States ;  position  irregular. 

From  the  Patent  Office  Report,  1848,  an  article  taken 
from  the  Prairie  Farmer,  by  Prof.  J.  B.  Turner.  The 
osage  orange,  the  favorite  hedge  plant  of  the  United  States, 
has  already  become  too  well  known  to  need  any  particular 
description.  It  grows  in  the  wilds  of  North  America,  in 
regions  further  North  than  New  York,  and  further  South 
than  the  Carolinas.  It  is  usually  in  this  country  from  ten 
to  fifteen  feet  in  height,  though,  like  the  English  thorn,  it 
is  said  sometimes  to  attain  in  its  native  soil  a  height  of  fifty 
and  even  sixty  feet.  Its  utility  as  a  hedge  plant  is  no 
longer  an  experiment.  Hedges  of  the  rarest  beauty  and 
excellence  have  been  growing  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and 
Cincinnati;  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Northern  Mis- 
souri; and,  in  short,  in  all  the  Middle  and  Southern  states. 
Some  of  these  hedges  have  been  standing  for  ten  or  twelve 
years  ;  they  were  planted  by  gentlemen  of  wealth  and  taste 
around  their  favorite  walks  and  grounds  at  a  time  when  the 
plants  sold  at  the  rate  of  five  dollars  per  thousand.  Among 
all  who  have  written  on  the  subject,  no  unfavorable  account 
has  come  to  my  knowledge.     Great  losses  have  been  incur- 


102 

red  with  the  seed,  as  might  be  expected,  but  the  plant  and 
hedge  are  universally  admired  and  commended,  and  it  is 
confidently  believed  by  the  best  judges  that  it  will  double 
the  real  value  of  any  farm  it  surrounds.  Recent  writers 
enumerate  thus  its  many  advantages :  First — its  tenacity  of 
life  is  scarcely  equalled ;  it  is  a  native  of  the  prairies,  and 
will  grow  on  any  soil  where  common  prairie  grass  will 
grow.  Overflowing  the  land  does  not  harm  it.  It  will 
live  for  weeks  and  months  entirely  under  water.  The  dead 
wood  is  exceedingly  hard  and  durable,  and  fresh  shoots 
from  the  stumps  soon  supply  the  place  of  all  which  have 
been  killed  by  fire  or  cutting.  Second — its  protection  is 
perfect.  It  is  armed  with  a  very  sharp,  stout  thorn  under 
each  leaf.  Its  dense  iron  branches  soon  become  so  inter- 
locked, that  no  domestic  animal,  and  not  even  a  common 
bird,  can  pass  through  it.  Both  its  thorns  and  its  acrid, 
bitter  juice  prevent  all  animals  from  browsing  or  feeding 
on  its  branches.  Its  seed  is  like  the  Orange,  and  its  roots 
like  the  hickory,  consequently  it  can  never  spread  into  the 
field,  either  from  the  seed  or  root,  but  keeps  its  own  place, 
growing  stronger  and  thicker  year  by  year.  It  thus  per- 
fectly secures  orchards,  fruit-yards,  stables,  sheepfolds,  and 
pasture  grounds  from  all  thieves,  rogues,  dogs,  wolves,  etc., 
and  one  good  gate,  well  locked,  makes  a  whole  farm  secure 
from  all  intruders  of  whatever  description.  It  may  be 
trained  so  high  as  to  afford  shelter  to  stock,  and  break  off 
the  rough  prairie  winds  from  all  grounds  needing  such  pro- 
tection. Plants  may  also  be  prepared  so  that  it  can  be  set 
in  the  open  prairie  without  fence  with  perfect  success.  See 
also  in  Patent  Office  Report,  1854,  p.  419,  an  article  on  the 
best  mode  of  cultivating  the  osage  orange  for  hedges,  and 
1855,  p.  315,  on  "Live  fences."  The  insects  which  feed 
on  it  are  described,  viz:  a  "chinch-bug,"  and  the  mole 
known  as  the  gopher  in  Southern  Illinois.  In  Illinois  con- 
tractors set  out  and  tend  the  hedge  at  one  dollar  a  mile,  till 
a  good  fence  is  produced.  See  Cerasus  Carolhiiana.  The 
juice  of  the  osage  orange,  says  Wilson,  is  exceedingly  abun- 
dant, and  flows  freely  from  incisions,  and  quickly  separates 


103 

into  a  feculant  matter,  and  a  supernatant,  clear  liquid.  The 
wood  is  uncommonly  tine  and  elastic,  and  is  used  by  the 
American  Indians  for  making  their  bows.  It  seems  well 
adapted  to  many  purposes  of  turners.  It  is  said  to  equal 
fustic  as  a  yellow  dye  stuff,  and  may  be  much  more  easily 
produced.     Rural  Cyclopaedia. 

The  Cherokee  rose  forms  a  most  valuable  hedge  plant. 
A  writer  praises  highly  the  "cabbage  tree."  See  also 
"  Cratcegus ;"  in  this  volume. 

TiLiACEiE.     [The  Linden  Tribe.) 
They  have  all  a  mucilaginous,  wholesome  juice, 

Tilia  Americana,  Linn.,  T.  and  G.  )  Lime  tree.  Bass 
"  glabra,  Vent,  and  Ell.  Sk.  J  wood.  An  ornamental 
tree,  found  in  the  mountain  valleys  of  South  Carolina; 
Florida  to  North  Carolina;  Kewbern. 

Ell.  Bot.  22.  The  bark,  when  macerated,  forms  a  strong 
cordage,  used  for  domestic  purposes.  The  wood  is  white 
and  soft,  and  is  used  by  carriage  and  cabinet-makers. 

The  inner  bark  of  the  European  linden  [T.  Europea), 
forms  a  strong  cordage.  Doubtless  our  American  species 
are  also  thus  distinguished.  The  plants  or  branches  may 
be  steeped  in  water  for  three  months,  dried,  and  stripped; 
for  every  purpose  of  cordage  on  the  plantation  or  garden, 
this  material  will  be  found  useful.  It  forms  throughout 
England  the  material  for  "bass,"  and  is  used  by  the  horti- 
culturist. The  flowers  of  our  American  tilia,  sent  to  me 
from  Pendleton  district,  S.  C,  I  find  quite  as  useful  as  the 
imported  "Tilleul,"  a  material  for  quieting,  antispasmodic 
teas,  so  much  employed  in  France.  It  is  particularly  grate- 
ful and  soothing  to  lying-in  women :  quieting  nervous  ex- 
citement, and  pleasant  to  the  taste.  I  would  particularly 
recommend  a  larger  use  of  these  flowers  in  the  Confeder- 
ate States.  It  can  be  used  wherever  tea  is  required. 
Honey  dew  is  generally  most  abundant  on  lime,  sycamore, 
and  beech  trees ;  on  the  cotton  plant  also.  The  above  re- 
marks  apply  to    T.  pubescens   also,    which  is  indigenous. 


104 

The  wood  of  the  T.  Americana  is  white  and  soft.  In  the 
Northern  states,  where  the  tulip  poplar  does  not  grow,  it  is 
used  for  the  panels  of  carriage  bodies  and  the  seats  of 
"Windsor  chairs.  It  is,  however,  apt  to  split,  and  is  not 
considered  equal  to  poplar  for  such  and  other  useful  pur- 
poses.    1ST.  Am.  Sylva. 

Camellie^:. 

Thea  viridis.  The  introduction  of  the  tea  plant  into  the 
Confederate  States  is  so  important  that  I  will,  at  any  rate, 
endeavor  to  give  all  suitable  references  to  sources  of  in- 
formation concerning  its  culture,  preparation,  etc.  See  a 
pretty  full  account  of  the  history  of  its  production  in  the 
United  States  in  Patent  Office  Report,  1855,  p.  42.  The 
best  mode  of  growing  the  plant,  drying  and  preparing  the 
leaves,  is  also  described. 

For  some  account  of  the  experiment  in  the  cultivation 
of  foreign  tea  in  South  Carolina  by  Dr.  Junius  Smith,  see 
P.  0.  Report,  1848,  p.  168,  and  1859,  p.  6.  See  also  vol. 
for  1857,  p.  167,  for  article  on  "  Practicability  of  the  Tea 
Culture  in  the  United  States."  A  description  is  given  of 
the  varieties  of  soil  and  climate  adapted  to  the  growth  of 
tea,  its  cultivation  and  preparation,  with  a  notice  of  the 
plants  set  out  in  Washington.  This  communication  should 
be  read  by  any  one  who  proposes  entering  upon  the  busi- 
ness of  raising  tea  plants;  also  vol.  1859,  p.  5,  et.  seq., 
containing  successful  experiments  in  Brazil.  See  Ceano- 
thus  Americanus,  red-root,  New  Jersey  tea  tree,  as  a  sub- 
stitute. 

Among  our  indigenous  plants,  the  Gardenia  (S.  pubescens 
and  lasianthus,  growing  from  Florida  to  North  Carolina)* 
belongs  to  the  same  natural  family,  Camellieae,  as  the  tea 
plant,  and  it  should  be  experimented  with.  Our  Linden 
tree  (Tilia  Americana),  the  flowers  of  which  are  used  in 
making  an  antispasmodic  tea,  is  closely  related  to  Gar- 
denia and  Thea ;  so  the  botanical  relationship  and  the 
natural  properties  are  again  substantiated.     See  Tilia.     It 


105 

is  said  that  a  pleasant  tea  can  be  made  likewise  from  the 
Holly  [Ilex  opaca). 

The  introduction  of  both  coffee  and  tea  into  Brazil  was 
at  first  very  slow,  but  was  subsequently  successful. 

A  writer  in  the  "  Country  Gentleman  "  makes  this  state- 
ment :  "  A  few  days  ago  I  drank  a  cup  of  real  American 
tea,  from  the  Chinese  tea  plant,  of  which  Dr.  J.  P.  Barrett, 
near  New  Market,  S.  C,  has  a  fine  shrub,  about  four  feet 
high,  which  has  borne  fruit  during  several  years.  By  its 
side  was  a  thrifty  specimen  of  the  Olea  fragrans,  or  Chinese 
olive,  with  which  the  tea  is  scented."  I  have  seen  a  plant 
of  the  Thea  growing  out  in  the  open  air,  near  Stateburgh, 
South  Carolina.  In  the  cultivation  of  the  tea  in  China,  "the 
lower  slopes  of  the  hills  are  preferred,  at  1,000  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  In  India,  from  2,000  to  6,000  feet. 
The  best  description  of  soil  for  the  tea  plant  is  a  light 
loam,  well  mixed  with  sand,  and  enriched  with  vegetable 
matter,  moderately  moist,  but  neither  wet  nor  sour.  Slop- 
ing or  undulating  land  of  this  kind,  on  which  good  crops 
of  millet  or  Indian  corn  may  be  produced,  is  likely  to  be 
suitable.  Any  aspect  will  do,  but  east  or  west  is  preferred. 
The  tea  plant  will  not  flourish  in  a  wet  or  stagnant  soil. 
*  *  *  When  produced  from  seeds,  the  tea  plant  first 
flowers  in  the  second  year.  The  usual  period  of  flowering 
is  in  November,  and  the  seeds  ripen  the  next  autumn. 
The  ground  is  prepared  for  planting  by  being  dug  or 
trenched  in  the  usual  ways.  Manure  is  rarely  used  in  tea 
culture  in  China;  but  where  the  land  is  poor,  stable-litter 
and  sewage  of  all  kinds  are  sometimes  applied  indiscrimi- 
nately, in  moderate  quantities,  and  a  top  dressing  of  rich 
loam  is  considered  valuable.  The  best  time  to  apply 
manure  is  in  the  spring,  before  the  plants  begin  to  grow,  or 
during  mild  weather  in  winter.  *  *  *  When  the  plant 
is  about  18  inches  high  the  leading  shoots  are  pinched  off, 
and  the  shrub  is  forced  to  throw  out  laterals.  Naturally,  it 
has  a  tendency  to  grow  tall  and  straggling,  with  few  side 
shoots.  *  *  *  As  the  leaves  used  in  making  tea  are 
produced  yearly  at  the  ends  of  the  shoots,  the  object  of 


106 

this  system  of  treatment  is  apparent.  *  *  *  A  small 
crop  of  leaves  may  be  gathered  the  third  year  after  plant- 
ing. In  the  eighth  or  tenth  year,  the  product  may  be  con- 
sidered at  its  maximum.  About  ten  pounds  to  an  acre  is 
produced  in  China  the  third  year,  sometimes  three  hundred 
pounds  in  the  tenth  year."     Art.  cit.  sup. 

Meliace^e.     (The  Bead  Tree  Tribe.) 

Bitter,  astringent,  and  tonic  properties  characterize  the 
species  of  this  order.  Some  of  them  are  active  and  dan- 
gerous. 

Melia  Azedarach,  Linn.  Pride  of  India.  Nat. ;  diffused ; 
grows  in  the  streets  of  Charleston.     Fl.  May. 

Chap.  Therap.  ii,  70;  Ell.  Bot.  475;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet, 
de  M.  Med.  iv,  290 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  135 ;  Royle,  Mat.  Med. 
308 ;  Bell's  Prac.  Diet.  87 ;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  207 ;  Frost's 
Elems.  pt.  1 ;  Archives  Generates  de  Med.  xvii,  112 ;  Lind. 
!N"at.  Syst.  102  ;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  128.  Barton  considered 
it  our  most  active  anthelmintic.  It  is  also  a  febrifuge, 
adapted  to  verminous  fevers,  where  no  worms  are  voided. 
Diet,  des  Drogues,  par  Chevallier,  iii,  27.  Tournon  relates 
a  case  where  a  little  girl  was  thrown  into  convulsions  by 
eating  three  of  the  seeds.  Merat  also  mentions  cases. 
Journal  Gen.  de  Med.  xlviii,  25;  Gazette  de  Sant6,  Mars, 
1824.  We  have  frequently  seen  them  eaten  by  children  in 
South  Carolina,  with  no  bad  effect.  As  an  anthelmintic, 
four  ounces  of  the  bark  of  the  fresh  root  are  boiled  in 
one  pint  of  water,  till  it  becomes  of  the  consistence  of 
coffee,  of  which  from  one  ounce  to  half  an  ounce  may 
be  given  every  two  hours;  it  may  be  drunk  sweetened, 
and  should  be  followed  by  a  cathartic.  The  dried  ber- 
ries, in  spirits,  have  also  been  employed  against  ascara- 
dides,  taenia,  and  verminous  maladies  generally.  Accord- 
ing to  Thacher,  the  pulp  of  the  berry,  stewed  in  lard, 
is  used  advantageously  as  an  ointment  in  tinea  capitis. 
The  decoction  of  the  leaves  is  regarded  as  astringent  and 
stomachic,  and  Dr.  Skyston  says  he  uses  it  with  success 


107 

in  hysteria.  This  plant  is  employed  in  Java  and  Persia. 
See  Bev.  Medicale,  iv,  82.  The  tree  is  planted  around 
stables,  in  order  that  horses,  by  eating  the  berries,  may 
be  prevented  from  having  "bots."  The  leaves  and  ber- 
ries of  the  Pride  of  India,  packed  with  dried  fruits,  will 
preserve  them  from,  insects.  It  is  much  valued  in  this  state 
as  a  shade  tree,  growing  equally  well  in  dry  pine  land  resi- 
dences, and  in  cities ;  during  the  expansion  of  the  flowers, 
however,  it  gives  out  a  disagreeable  odor.  It  is  easily 
blown  down,  and  is  not  long-lived.  The  wood  is  beauti- 
fully grained,  and  adapted  for  table-covers,  drawers,  etc., 
never  being  injured  by  worms. 

A  solution  or  decoction  made  with  the  berries  of  the 
Pride  of  India  (to  a  half  bushel  of  the  berries  put  into  a 
barrel  add  fifteen  gallons  of  water,  and  let  them  soak  one 
or  two  days),  aud  sprinkled  with  a  water-pot  over  the 
plants,  will,  in  most  cases,  prevent  the  depredation  of  the 
black  grub  or  cutworm.  The  elder  (Sambucus  canadensis) 
is  also  said  to  be  excellent,  used  in  the  same  way.  F.  S. 
Holmes'  So.  Farmer.  The  oil  from  flax  seed  (Linum)  will 
also  destroy  all  kinds  of  animals  infesting  quadrupeds, 
when  rubbed  into  the  skin. 

A  soap  is  made  from  the  berries  of  the  Pride  of  India, 
which  is  called  "Poor  man's  soap." 

Aurantiaceje.     ( The  Orange   Tribe.) 

Citrus  aurantium,  W.  Orange.  This  well  known  tree  is 
cultivated  in  Charleston,  and  grows  abundantly  in  Beau- 
fort district,  on  the  sea-coast;  also  in  Florida,  and  coast 
of  Georgia.  I  will  refer  to  the  Lemon,  also,  in  this  con- 
nection. 

To  obtain  the  fragrant  essences  from  the  fresh  rinds  of  lemons, 
oranges,  etc.,  the  rinds  are  rubbed  against  large  lumps  of 
loaf  sugar  until  the  yellow  rind  is  completely  absorbed. 
Those  parts  of  the  sugar  which  are  impregnated  with  the 
essence,  are,  from  time  to  time,  to  be  cut  away  with  a 
knife,  and  put  into  an  earthen  dish.  The  whole  being  thus 
taken  off,  the  sugared  essence  is  to  be  closely  pressed,  and 


108 

put  by  in  pots,  where  it  is  to  be  squeezed  down  hard,  have 
a  bladder  over  the  paper  by  which  it  is  covered,  and  tied 
tightly  up.  It  is  at  any  time  fit  for  use,  and  will  keep  for 
many  years.  Exactly  in  the  same  manner  may  be  ob- 
tained and  preserved,  at  the  proper  seasons,  from  the  fresh 
roots,  the  essences  of  the  rinds  of  bitter  or  sweet  oranges, 
lemons  or  limes,  bergamots,  etc.,  some  of  which  are  often 
unattainable  in  a  fresh  state  at  any  price.  Thornton's 
Herbal,  p.  659.  By  this  simple  means  those  who  have,  or 
can  obtain  lemons,  may  preserve  the  essence  for  the  prepa- 
ration of  cooling,  acidulous  drinks  at  any  time.  Wine  may 
also  be  made  from  the  orange.  Thornton,  in  his  medical 
work,  gives  the  method  as  follows:  Put  twelve  pounds  of 
powdered  sugar,  with  the  whites  of  eight  or  ten  eggs,  well 
beaten,  into  six  gallons  of  spring  water,  boil  them  three 
quarters  of  an  hour ;  when  cold,  put  into  it  six  spoonfuls 
of  yeast  and  the  juice  of  twelve  lemons,  which,  being 
pared,  must  stand,  with  two  pounds  of  white  sugar,  in  a 
tankard,  and  in  the  morning  skim  off  the  top,  and  then  put 
it  into  the  water  ;  add  the  juice  and  rinds  of  fifty  oranges, 
but  not  the  white  or  pithy  parts  of  the  rinds ;  let  it  work 
all  together  two  days  and  two  nights  ;  then  add  two  quarts 
of  Rhenish  or  white  wine,  and  put  it  into  a  vessel. 

In  P.  O.  Rep.  1859,  p.  106,  is  a  communication  on  the 
products  of  the  Ionian  islands  and  Italy.  The  following 
may  be  useful  to  those  in  Florida  who  raise  the  lemon  in 
quantity:  At  Agrami,  "the  most  considerable,  and  some- 
times the  most  valuable  portion  of  the  fruit  is  Scarito,  or 
that  rejected  as  unfit  for  exportation,  from  which  the  essen- 
tial oil  contained  in  the  rind,  and  the  juice,  or  citric  acid, 
in  the  pulp,  are  extracted.  The  essential  oil  is  expressed 
by  the  hand,  in  a  room  from  which  the  air  is  carefully 
excluded,  as,  owing  to  its  highly  volatile  nature,  the  oil 
produced  would  be  greatly  diminished  by  currents  of  air. 
The  skin  cut  from  three  sides  of  the  lemon  is  pressed  be- 
tween the  thumb  and  finger,  and  ten  or  twelve  ounces 
may  be  expressed  in  a  long  day  by  an  expert  workman. 
The  oil  thus  expressed  is  put  into  large  receivers,  whence 


109 

(after  remaining  some  days  to  deposit  the  extraneous  mat- 
ter that  comes  off  with  the  oil)  it  is  transferred  to  copper 
bottles  for  exportation. 

"The  juice,  or  citric  acid,  is  obtained  by  submitting  the 
pulp  to  a  powerful  press,  which,  though  rustic  in  con- 
struction, is  efficient.  This  is  worked  during  the  season 
night  and  day.  The  quantity  of  juice  produced  from  one 
press  during  twenty-four  hours  averages  126  gallons.  *  * 
Lemon  juice  intended  for  exportation  is  put  into  well 
seasoned  oak  casks,  and  filled  to  the  bung,  so  as  entirely 
to  exclude  the  air.  When  of  a  good  quality,  and  the  till- 
ing of  the  cask  is  completed,  the  article  may  be  kept  in  a 
cellar  or  cold  place  for  any  reasonable  time."  Lemon 
juice,  used  for  calico  printing,  was  afterward  boiled  down, 
or  evaporated,  in  leaden  pans,  over  steam,  to  a  certain  con- 
sistency—  the  citric  acid  and  mucilage  only  remaining  in 
a  highly  concentrated  stage.  Consult  Mulberry  (Morus 
rubra,  in  this  volume.  See  P.  0.  Rep.  1858,  p.  257,  for 
Mr.  Glover's  report  on  the  insects  feeding  upon  it,  and  a 
history  of  the  tree  in  Florida.  See  also  Ure's  Dictionary 
of  Arts,  article  Citric  Acid.  To  prevent  attacks  of  the 
"  scale,"  an  insect,  hot  water  or  steam  is  the  best  remedy. 
The  Persian  powder  (see  P.  0.  Rep.  1857,  p.  129)  is  also 
advised  (Pyrethrum  caucasicum)  —  allied  to  the  ox-eyed  daisy 
{Chrysanthemum  leucanthemum)  growing  in  the  Confederate 
States. 

Rhamnace^e.     (The  Buckthorn  Tribe.) 

Ceanothus  Americanus,  L.  New  Jersey  tea  tree.  Red- 
root.  Two  varieties  exist  in  this  state.  Diffused  in  dry 
pine  barrens ;  Richland ;  collected  in  St.  John's ;  vicinity 
of  Charleston  ;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  108;  Ferrein,  Mat.  Med.  iii,  338; 
IT.  S.  Disp.  1240 ;  Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  291 ;  Mer.  and  de 
L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  165  ;  Boston  Med.  and  Surg.  Jour- 
nal, 1835.  See  also  the  Supplement  to  Mer.  de  L.  Diet,  de 
M.  Med.  1846,  155.  This  plant  possesses  a  considerable 
degree  of  astringency,  and  has  been   used  in  gonorrhoea! 


110 

discharges.  It  is  applied  by  the  Cherokee  doctors  as  a 
wash  in  cancer,  and  may  be  used  wherever  an  astringent  is 
likely  to  be  useful.  The  Indians  employed  it  in  lues 
venerea,  preferring  it  to  lobelia ;  if  the  case  was  violent, 
the  root  of  the  blackberry  (Bubus  villosus)  was  mixed  with 
it.  Stearns'  Am.  Herbal,  97.  Referring  to  its  antisyphi- 
litic  powers,  Ferrein  says:  "Elle  guerit  aussi  en  moins  de 
quinze  jours,  les  veneriens  les  plus  inveteres."  It  is  not 
now  supposed  to  be  endowed  with  any  very  decided  virtue 
in  this  respect.  Dr.  Hubbard  prescribes  it  with  advantage 
in  the  aphthous  affections  of  infants,  in  malignant  dysentery 
and  in  other  maladies  dependent  upon  debility ;  he  usually 
combines  with  it  a  little  borax.  See  Journal  de  Pharm.  xxiii, 
354.  Mr.  Tuomey,  State  Geologist,  informs  me  that  much 
use  is  made  of  it  in  domestic  practice  in  Chesterfield  dis- 
trict. An  infusion  of  the  leaves  was  employed  during  the 
Revolutionary  war  as  a  substitute  for  tea.  We  have  experi- 
mented with  the  leaves,  and  obtained  a  liquor  somewhat 
resembling  common  tea  both  in  color  and  taste.  It  imparts 
to  wool  a  fine,  persistent,  cinnamon,  nankeen  color. 

The  above  was  included  in  my  report  on  the  Medical 
Botany  of  South  Carolina,  published  in  1849.  Since  the 
beginning  of  the  war  I  called  the  attention  of  our  citizens 
to  this  plant  as  a  substitute  for  foreign  tea,  in  a  brief  com- 
munication to  the  Charleston  Courier  (Oct.  1861),  having 
again  collected  and  used  it,  and  induced  others  to  do  the 
same.  I  quote  from  this  article :  "  Without  any  desire  to 
exaggerate,  I  commend  the  substitute.  It  grows  abun- 
dantly in  our  high  pine  ridges.  The  tea  prepared  from  this 
shrub,  drawn  as  common  tea,  is  certainly  a  good  substitute 
for  indifferent  black  tea.  Properly  dried  and  prepared,  it 
is  better  than  none.  I  am  glad  to  report  it  as  a  most 
excellent  article  to  be  used  in  war  times  in  place  of  a  high- 
priced  commodity,  which  in  every  respect  it  closely  resem- 
bles, if  it  does  not  equal."  Dr.  John  Bachman,  also,  at  a 
later  period  (1862)  directed  attention  to  the  plant,  stating 
that  he  had  used  it  for  two  months  in  his  own  family. 
The  leaves  should  be  carefully  dried  in  the  shade. 


Ill 

Euphokbiace^.     {The  Ewphorbium  Tribe.) 

The  general  property,  according  to  Jussieu,  is  an  exci- 
tant principle,  residing  principally  in  the  milky  secretion, 
and  proportioned  in  its  strength  to  the  abundance  of  the 
latter. 

Buxus  sempervire?is.     Box.     Ex. ;  cultivated  in  gardens. 

Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  799 ;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  512 ; 
Le.  i,  244 ;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  602.  The  leaves  have  been 
affirmed  to  be  violently  purgative,  and  are  employed  as  a 
substitute  for  guaiacum.  Dem.  Elem.  de  Botanique,  iii, 
434 ;  Bull.  Plantes  Ven.  de  France.  A  fetid  oil  is  obtained 
from  it,  and  the  wood  is  prized  by  engravers  for  their 
blocks. 

The  timber-bearing  box  tree  is  planted  in  England  from 
the  seeds  to  great  profit,  Besides  being  ornamental,  its 
timber  is  very  valuable.  It  attains  a  great  height  in  Tur- 
key and  Asia  Minor,  and  the  wood  is  used  by  the  engrav- 
er, and  for  the  manufacture  of  combs,  and  musical  and 
mathematical  instruments.  It  will  grow  on  poor  lands. 
The  garden  box  is  always  dwarfish. 

Croton  balsamiferum.    Willd.     South  Florida. 

This  plant,  C.  maralimign,  Walt.,  and  several  other  spe- 
cies, natives  of  the  Confederate  States,  should  be  examined 
on  account  of  their  alliance  with  C.  tiglium,  which  produces 
croton  oil.  Cascarilla  bark,  and  a  dye,  are  obtained  from 
the  genus  Croton. 

Ricinus  communis.  Castor  oil  plant.  Ex  ;  grows  luxu- 
riantly in  rich  spots.  This  valuable  plant  thrives  so  well 
in  this  state,  that  it  might  be  made  a  source  of  profit.  On 
some  of  the  plantations  the  seeds  are  boiled,  and  the  su- 
pernatant oil  given  as  a  cathartic.  It  might  with  great 
advantage  be  more  generally  used.     See  authors  passim. 

It  is  believed  by  some  that  one  variety  of  the  castor  oil 
bean  hulls  itself  spontaneously.     I  remember  no  distinc- 


112 

tion  of  this  kind  mentioned  in  Pereira's  lengthy  descrip- 
tion of  the  plant.  I  have  been  applied  to  to  ascertain  the 
relative  value  of  the  small  and  large-seeded  variety.  Pere- 
ira  states  that  the  oil  is  equally  good  and  abundant  in  each. 
See  also  the  Dictionnaire  de  Mat.  Medicale. 

It  is  being  planted  extensively  by  planters  for  home  use 
in  the  Confederate  States;  and  at  present,  1862,  the  oil 
sells  at  from  eight  to  eleven  dollars  a  gallon.  As  it  is  im- 
portant that  this  plant  should  be  largely  grown,  on  account 
of  its  great  value  and  enormous  consumption,  I  will  be  at 
the  trouble  to  insert  all  the  practical  information  at  my 
disposal. 

A  brief  paper  can  be  found  in  the  Patent  Office  Report, 
1855,  p.  27.  The  writer  says  that  the  Palma  Christi 
"  has  proved  itself  well  adapted  to  the  soil  and  climate  of 
the  Middle  and  Southern  states,  and  were  its  culture  ex- 
tended for  the  manufacture  of  castor  oil,  there  is  no  doubt 
it  would  be  profitable  under  improved  methods  of  extract- 
ing it,  and  we  should  no  longer  be  dependent  upon  other 
nations  for  a  supply.  At  present  we  annually  import  an 
amount  of  this  article  exceeding  in  value  $30,000." 

Although  an  annual,  herbaceous  plant  in  the  gardens  of 
the  cooler  parts  of  Europe  and  the  United  States,  within  the 
tropics,  and  the  warm  climates  adjacent  thereto,  the  Palma 
Christi  becomes  a  tree  of  several  years  standing,  often 
having  a  woody  trunk  of  the  size  of  a  man's  body,  and  fif- 
teen or  twenty  feet  high.  This  plant  thrives  best  in  a  light, 
sandy  loam,  although  it  may  be  cultivated  with  success  in 
almost  any  soil  tolerably  fertile,  or  in  any  climate  or  soil 
where  Indian  corn  will  thrive.  In  the  cooler  parts  of  the 
Union  it  may  be  planted  in  hills  two  feet  by  three  apart, 
two  seeds  in  a  place,  as  early  in  the  spring  as  the  warmth 
of  the  ground  and  the  season  will  admit;  but  in  the  South, 
where  the  season  is  longer,  and  the  plant  assumes  the 
character  of  a  tree,  the  hills  should  be  six  or  seven  feet  in 
one  direction,  and  three  and  a  half  feet  in  the  other,  re- 
ceiving one  seed  to  a  hill,  covered  to  the  depth  of  two 
inches.     The  culture  is  so  simple,  that  it  only  requires  to 


113 

keep  the  plants  free  from  weeds,  with  a  small,  flat  hill  to 
each.  The  only  difficulty  to  contend"  with  is,  that  in  saving 
or  harvesting  the  beans,  the  outward  coats,  as  they  become 
dry  and  elastic,  fly  off  the  plants  to  a  considerable  distance, 
causing  the  seeds  to  drop  to  the  ground.  .  In  order  to  pre- 
vent this,  it  has  been  recommended  to  cut  off'  the  branches 
from  the  plants,  as  soon  as  the  pods  begin  to  explode,  and 
spread  them  on  the  floor  of  a  close  room ;  and  after  the 
beans  and  their  shells  have  parted,  to  separate  the  husks 
from  the  seeds  with  a  fanning-mill,  as  with  wheat,  or  try 
the  common  riddle  and  a  draught  of  air.  The  seeds  of 
this  plant  furnish  the  well  known  medicine,  castor  oil, 
which  is  obtained  both  by  decoction  and  expression.  The 
former  method  is  performed  by  freeing  the  seeds  from 
their  husks,  which  are  gathered  upon  their  turning  brown, 
and  when  beginning  to  burst  open  are  first  bruised  in  a 
mortar,  afterward  tied  up  in  a  linen  bag,  and  then  thrown 
into  a  large  pot  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water,  and 
boiled  until  the  oil  has  risen  to  the  surface,  when  it  is 
carefully  skimmed  off",  strained,  and  preserved  for  use. 
In  extensive  operations,  a  mill  should  be  provided,  moved 
by  the  agency  of  animal  power,  water,  or  steam,  for  bruis- 
ing the  seeds ;  and  the  other  apparatus  used  in  obtaining 
the  oil  should  be  of  appropriate  dimensions.  The  oil  thus 
obtained,  however,  has  the  disadvantage  of  becoming  ran- 
cid sooner  than  that  procured  by  expression.  The  best 
mode, .  therefore,  is  to  subject  the  seeds  to  a  powerful  hy- 
draulic press,  in  a  similar  manner  to  that  in  which  the  oil 
is  extracted  from  almonds  and  cotton  seeds.  The  seeds 
yield  about  one-quarter  of  their  weight  in  oil. 

The  reader  interested  in  the  varieties,  mode  of  pressure, 
etc.,  of  castor  oil  seeds,  may  consult  with  profit  Merat  and 
De  Len's  Diet,  cle  Mat.  Med.,  Pereira's  Mat.  Med.,  the  U.  S. 
Disp.,  and  in  addition  the  material  included  in,  this  paper; 
also,  Ure's  Diet,  of  Arts,  article  u  Oils,"  and  Wilson's 
Rural  Cyc. 

The  oil  may  be  extracted  from  the  seeds  (see  U.  S.  Disp.) 


114 

in  three  ways:  by  decoction,  expression,  and  by  the  agency 
of  alcohol. 

The  process  by  decoction  consists  in  bruising  the  seeds, 
previously  deprived  of  their  husks,  and  then  boiling  them 
in  water.  The  oil  rising  to  the  surface  is  skimmed  or 
strained  off,  and  afterward  again  boiled  with  a  small 
quantity  of  water,  to  dissipate  the  acrid  principle.  To 
increase  the  product,  it  is  said  that  the  seeds  are  some- 
times toasted.  The  oil  is  thus  rendered  brownish  and 
acrid,  and  the  same  result  takes  place  in  the  second  boiling 
if  care  is  not  taken  to  suspend  the  process  soon  after  the 
water  is  evaporated.  Hence  the  color  of  the  West  India 
oil,  where  this  method  is  pursued.  "  The  oil  obtained  in 
this  country  is  by  expression.  The  following,  as  we  have 
been  informed,  are  the  outlines  of  the  process  usually 
employed  by  those  who  prepare  it  on  a  large,  scale.  The 
seeds  having  been  thoroughly  cleansed  from  the  dust  and 
fragments  of  the  capsules  with  which  they  are  mixed,  are 
conveyed  into  a  shallow  iron  reservoir,  where  they  are  sub- 
mitted to  a  gentle  heat,  insufficient  to  scorch  or  decompose 
them,  and  not  greater  than  can  be  readily  borne  by  the 
hand.  The  object  of  this  step  is  to  render  the  oil  suffi- 
ciently liquid  for  easy  expression.  The  seeds  are  then 
introduced  into  a  powerful  screw-press.  A  whitish,  oily 
liquid  is  thus  obtained,  which  is  transferred  to  clean  iron 
boilers,  supplied  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  water. 
The  mixture  is  boiled  for  some  time,  and  the  impurities 
being  skimmed  off  as  they  rise  to  the  surface,  a  clear  oil 
is  at  length  left  upon  the  top  of  the  water — the  mucilage 
and  starch  having  been  dissolved  by  this  liquid,  and  the 
albumen  coagulated  by  the  heat.  The  latter  ingredient 
forms  a  whitish  layer  between  the  oil  and  water.  The 
clear  oil  is  now  carefully  removed,  and  the  process  is  com- 
pleted by  boiling  it  with  a  minute  proportion  of  water,  and 
continuing  the  application  of  heat  till  aqueous  vapor  ceases 
to  rise,  and  till  a  small  portion  of  the  liquid,  taken  out 
in  a  vial,  preserves  a  perfect  transparency  when  it  cools. 
The  effect  of  this  last  operation  is  to  clarify  the  oil,  and  to 


115 

render  it  less  irritating,  by  driving  off"  the  acrid,  volatile 
matter.  But  much  care  is  requisite  not  to  push  the  heat 
too  far,  as  the  oil  then  acquires  a  brownish  hue,  and  an 
acrid,  peppery  taste.  After  the  completion  of  the  process, 
the  oil  is  put  into  barrels,  and  is  thus  sent  into  market. 
There  is  reason,  however,  to  believe  -that  much  of  the 
American  oil  is  prepared  by  merely  allowing  it  to  stand 
for  some  time  after  expression,  and  then  drawing  off  the 
supernatant  liquid.  One  bushel  of  good  seeds  yields  five 
or  six  quarts,  or  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  best 
oil.  If  it  is  not  very  carefully  prepared,  it  is  apt  to  de- 
posit a  sediment  upon  standing ;  and  the  apothecary  -fre- 
quently finds  it  necessary  to  filter  it  through  coarse  paper 
before  dispensing  it.  Perhaps  this  may  be  owing  to  the 
plan  just  alluded  to,  of  purifying  the  oil  by  rest  and  clecan- 
tation."  A  large  proportion  of  oil  was  obtained  through 
New  Orleans  from  Illinois.  The  American  castor  oil,  says 
Wood  and  Bache,  is  also  prepared  by  mere  expression, 
rest,  and  decantation.  See  Bent  (" Sesamum")  for  oils  and 
method  of  expression. 

Doctor  John  Bachman  ("J.  B."),  who  has  exhibited  the 
character  of  the  true  patriot  during  our  present  struggles, 
communicates  the  following  on  the  castor'  oil  plant: 

Mode  of  Culture. — Break  up  the  land  with  a  plough, 
and  lay  it  off  in  rows  six  feet  apart,  each  way.  The  best 
time  to  plant  is  from  the  middle  of  April  to  the  second 
week  in  May.  Drop  three  seeds  in  each  hill.  Half  a 
bushel  of  seed  will  plant  ten  acres.  Treat  the  plant  in  the 
same  manner  as  corn.  Be  careful  in  looking  after  the  cut- 
worm, which  gives  it  the  preference  to  corn.  When  the 
plants  are  six  inches  high,  they  should  be  thinned  to  one 
stalk  in  a  hill.  New  lands,  broken  up  the  same  season,  are 
not  suited.1  One  hand  can  tend  five  acres.  In  a  good,  dry 
soil,  the  yield  will  be  from  fifteen  to  twenty  bushels  per 
acre,  each  bushel  yielding  seven  quarts  of  pure  oil. 

Gathering  the  Seed. — About  the  middle  of  August  the 
seeds  begin  to  ripen,  and  will  continue  until  checked  by 
the  frost.     A  writer  in  the  Western  Plough  Boy,  of  1832, 


116 

says:  "Previous  to  the  ripening  of  the  seeds,  the  yard  for 
spreading  them  on  should  be  prepared.  It  should  be  made 
on  ground  of  a  gradual  descent,  open  to  the  sun,  and  made 
very  smooth  and  firm.  The  first  and  second  parcels  that 
ripen  must  stand  till  the  pods  on  the  ear  begin  to  crack, 
otherwise  a  part  of  the  bean  will  be  imperfect.  Later  in 
the  season,  when  the  stalk  is  more  mature,  they  must  be 
cut  when  two  or  three  pods  begin  to  open,  or  they  will 
waste.  They  are  laid  in  the  yard  one  ear  deep.  In  warm 
weather  a  layer  will  pop  out  in  three  days.  When  all  have 
opened  the  stems  are  raked  oft'.  The  hulls  are  swept  oft' 
with  a  broom  made  with  naked  switches ;  which,  if  care- 
fully done,  will  not  leave  more  than  one  bushel  of  hulls  in 
eight  of  beans.  They  may  be  cleaned  with  a  common 
wheat-fan,  with  a  riddle  suited  to  the  size  of  the  bean." 

Mode  of  Extraction. — The  oil  is  obtained  both  by  coc- 
tion  and  expression.  The  former  method  is  performed  by 
tying  up  the  seeds,  previously  broken  and  bruised,  in  a 
bag,  which  is  suspended  in  boiling  water  till  the  oil  is  ex- 
tracted and  rises  to  the  surface,  when  it  is  skimmed  oft". 
This  is  the  usual  mode  adopted  by  farmers.  The  smallest 
quantity  of  water,  however,-  remaining  in  the  oil,  causes  it 
to  become  rancid.  The  "cold  expressed  oil"  is  prefer- 
able, and  will  continue  pure  for  a  long  time.  The  process 
is  easy  and  simple.  The  screw  and  the  lever  used  in  bal- 
ing cotton  will  express  the  oil  from  the  beans.  The  cap- 
sules, or  unopened  beans,  are  to  be  moderately  heated  in  a 
furnace,  not  so  hot  as  to  be  distressing  to  the  naked  hand. 
Under  the  screw  is  fixed  a  strong  iron  cylinder,  into  which 
the  beans  are  put,  and  covered  with  an  iron  follower,  of 
diameter  proportioned  to  the  cylinder.  The  oil  is  now  fit 
for  use.  I  have  seen  it  stated  that  "a  Southwestern  plant- 
er began  with-  making  500  gallons  of  oil  in  1825,  and  in 
1831  he  produces  13,000."  It  was  then  a  profitable  busi- 
ness at  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  gallon. 

I  trust  our  planters  will  see  the  necessity  of  preparing  to 
plant  the  castor  oil  bean  extensively.  The  great  value  of 
the  oil  as  a  purgative  is  the  mildness  and  rapidity  with 


117 

which  it  operates.  It  is  much  needed  by  the  brave  defend- 
ers of  our  soil.  It  has  saved  thousands  of  lives-;  and  if 
we  cannot  obtain  it,  thousands  must  perish  by  our  inatten- 
tion to  the  production  of  this  necessary  medicine.  That 
the  profits,  under  moderate  prices,  are  greater  than. the 
production  of  any  other  article,  I  am  fully  aware. 

N.  B. — Planters  should  be  encouraged  to  plant  largely 
of  the  ground-nut — it  makes  an  admirable  oil;  so  does  the 
benL  Oils  are  needed  not  only  for  table  use,  but  on  our 
machinery  of  every  description. 

Mr.  W.  Toney,  a  writer  in  the  Southern  Field  and  Fire- 
side, says  "there  are  several  varieties,  all  yielding  castor 
oil,  but  only  one  kind  which  is  self-hulling,  and  this  is  the 
true,  genuine  oil-bean."  If  this  is  so,  I  am  not  aware  of  it. 
I  have  only  seen  a  large  and  a  small  seed  variety,  and  ho 
writer  refers,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  to  any  other  distinction. 
The  writer  referred  to  says  that,  for  the  common  varieties, 
some  machinery,  like  the  cotton  seed  huller,  is  necessary 
to  decorticate  them. 

A  recent  writer  says  that  when  the  capsule  is  about  to 
expel  the  bean  it  is  ripe  ;  the  ripe  bunches  should  be  re- 
moved from  the  stalk  with  a  knife,  and  laid  thinly  over  a 
hard  and  dry  floor  of  earth,  plank,  etc.,  on  a  hot  and  sunny 
day,  when  the  heat  of  the  sun  will  cause  the  capsules  to 
expel  the  contained  beans.  Now  rake  away  the  straw,  and 
winnow  away  the  chaff. 

The  cleaned  beans  are  now  to  be  beaten  in  a  mortar  with 
a  pestle,  or  ground  in  a  mill  to  a  good  degree  of  fineness. 
The  mass  may  then  be  made  to  give  out  the  contained  oil, 
either  by  decoction  or  by  expression. 

The  beaten  beans  may  be  used  as  'a  purgative,  but  an 
overdose  is  sure  to  act  powerfully  as  a  cathartic,  and  often 
as  an  emetic.  Three  beans  (a  little  more  or  less)  are  gen- 
erally enough  for  a  dose. 

The  castor  oil  bean,  after  being  exposed  in  the  sun,  may 
be  thrashed  with  a  flail,  or  slightly  pounded  in  a  mortar,  to 
loosen  out  the  seeds.  I  would  suppose  that  the  best  plan 
would  be  to  winnow  out  the  seeds  from  their  coverings. 


118 

To  purify  the  oil  of  mucilage,  which  will  render  it  rancid, 
the  oil  should  be  boiled  in  a  little  water;  the  mucilage  being 
insoluble  in  the  water,  may  be  skimmed  off.  Any  water 
remaining  with  the  oil  should  be  evaporated,  taking  care 
not -to  burn  or  overheat  the  oil  in  the  process.  Soubeiran 
considers  that  all  processes  in  which  heat  is  employed  are 
objectionable,  as  a  quantity  of  fatty  acids  is  produced,  which 
renders  the  oil  acrid;  only,  too  high  a  temperature  should 
be  avoided.  Pereira  says  that  in  England  the  oil  is  ex- 
pressed either  by  Bramah's  hydraulic  press,  or  by  a  common 
screw-press,  in  a  room  artificially  heated.  It  is  purified  by 
rest,  decantation,  and  filtration.  It  is  bleached  by  exposure 
to  light  on  the  tops  of  houses.  In  Calcutta  it  is  prepared 
as  follows,  Pereira  adds :  The  fruit  is  shelled  by  women, 
the  seeds  are  crushed  between  rollers,  then  placed  in 
hempen  cloths,  and  pressed  in  the  ordinary  screw  or  h}^- 
draulic  press.  The  oil  thus  procured  is  afterward  heated 
with  water  in  a  tin  boiler  until  the  water  boils,  by  which 
the  mucilage  or  albumen  is  separated  as  a  scum.  The  oil 
is  then  strained  through  flannel,  and  put  into  canisters. 
The  small  seed  variety  is  supposed  to  yield  the  most  oil. 
Beans  of  ricinus  are  said  by  Boussingault  to  be  about  four 
times  more  rich  in  oil  than  either  flaxseed,  olives,  or  sun- 
flower seed.  He  says  that  62  pounds  of  oil  can  be  pro- 
cured in  100  of  the  castor  oil  bean.  It  is  stated  that  in 
Jamaica  castor  oil  is  often  obtained  by  simply  bruising  the 
iseeds  in  a  mortur,  and  boiling  them  in  bags  under  water — 
the  oil  rises  to  the  surface,  is  skimmed  off,  strained,  and 
bottled  for  use.  This  was  the  plan  used  on  the  plantations 
in  South  Carolina  during  the  war  of  Independence.  It 
would  not  do  for  operations  on  a  large  scale.  See  also 
Encyc.  Britannica,  art.  "Ricinus."  The  oil  is  considered 
good  for  illuminating  purposes.  A  writer  in  the  Southern 
Cultivator,  p.  29,  vol  .7,  refers  to  the  discovery  of  a  proc- 
ess for  separating  stearine  from  the  pure  oil  in  the  seeds, 
and  making  the  former  into  candles. 

The  cake  left  after  the  expression  of  castor  oil  is  very 
advantageously  applied  to  land  as  a  manure  for  wheat  and 


119 

other  crops/  An  interesting  communication  upon  this 
subject  may  be  found  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Farmer's 
Register,  from  T.  Or.  Peachy,  Esq.,  of  Williamsburg,  Va., 
the  results  of  whose  experiments  show  the  great  value  of 
the  article.  In  one  experiment  he  applied  from  fifty  to 
sixty  bushels  per  acre  on  seven  and  a  half  acres  of  land 
sown  with  ten  bushels  of  wheat,  and  the  product  was 
twenty-six  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre.  In  this  case  the 
land  was  so  poor  that  not  over  five  bushels  could,  be  ex- 
pected from  it  without  dressing.  He  recommends  about 
forty  bushels  as  an  ordinary  dressing.  Mr.  Peachy  does  not 
think  the  common  impression  correct,  that  the  chief  effi- 
cacy of  the  cake  resides  in  the  portion  of  oil  which  it  re- 
tains. His  press,  he  says,  "  is  a  very  powerful  one,  and 
leaves  a  very  small  portion  of  oil  in  the  cake.  There  is, 
moreover,  other  refuse  matter  in  such  an  establishment  as 
ours,  which  contains  a  vast  deal  more  oil  than  the  cake, 
which  I  have  used  as  manure,  and  been  uniformly  disap- 
pointed in  its  effects.  Accident  has  enabled  me,  I  think, 
to  solve  the  difficulty,  and  to  declare  my  belief  that  the 
fertilizing  qualities  of  the  oil  cake  reside  chiefly  in  the 
farina  it  contains.  Some  time  last  year,  a  vessel  laden 
with  flour  was  stranded  near  Jamestown,  and  the  flour 
ruined.  Mr.  John  Mann,  who  owns  a  farm  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, took  two  or  three  of  the  barrels,  and  top-dressed 
a  small  portion  of  his  wheat  with  it.  I  was  not  an  eye- 
witness of  its  effects ;  but  I  was  informed  that  it  produced 
as  great  an  increase  of  that  portion  of  his  crop  as  my  oil 
cake  would  have  done. 

"By  experiment,  I  find  that  fifty  bushels  of  the  cake  will 
weigh  1,800  pounds;  and  of  this  quantity  I  have  discovered 
that  ten-eighteenths  is  farina  or  flour — equal  to  five  barrels 
of  flour.  The  cotton  seed,  I  fancy,  contains  more  farina, 
in  proportion  to  the  oil,  than  the  castor  bean,  and,  I  be- 
lieve, would  produce  as  great  an  effect  after  being  deprived 
of  its  oil  as  it  would  do  in  its  original  state." 

Jatropha  stimulosay  Mx.     Stinging  nettle.     Grows  in  dry 


120 

pine  land  ;  vicinity  of  .Charleston  ;  collected  in  St.  John's ; 
Richland,  Div<L.  Gibbes;  Newborn.  Fl.  Aug.  The  leaves 
are  prickly,  and  highly  irritating  when'applied  to  the"  skin. 
It  might  be  employed  like  the  nettle  (Urtica),  as  a  counter- 
irritant  in  epilepsies,  and  diseases  requiring  stimulating 
applications. 

Acahjpha  Virginica,  L.  Grows  in  dry,  fertile  lands ; 
vicinit37  of  Charleston;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley ; 
JSTewbern.     Fl.  Sept. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  645.  Said  by  Dr.  Atkins,  of 
Coosawhatchie,  to  be  expectorant  and  diuretic;  he  has 
employed  it  successfully  in  cases  of  humid  asthma,  ascites, 
and  anasarca.  . 

Jtvppomdne  mancinella,  L.  Manchineel.  South  Florida. 
Chap. 

I  find  it  closely  related  to  Stillingia  (queen's  delight),  and 
it  belongs  to  the  EupliorbiacecE.  "Wilson  describes  it  as  a  poi- 
sonous, evergreen,  tropical  tree,  of  the  spurge  family.  It 
attains  a  height  of  eighty  feet,  and  was  esteemed  a  great 
curiosity  in  the  hot-houses  of  Britain.  The  fruit  is  the 
size  of  an  apple.  A  milky,  caustic  juice  abounds  in  every 
part  of  the  tree,  and  if  it  touches  the  human  eye,  is  in 
danger  of  causing  blindness ;  and  if  it  falls  on  any  part  of 
the  human  skin,  will  blister  it;  if  upon  linen,  it  will  make 
it  black,  and  afterward  eat  a  hole  through  it;  yet  this 
forms,  adds  the  author  from  whom  I  quote,  some  of  the 
well  known  caoutchouc  of  commerce.  The  timber  of  the 
manchineel  is  very  durable,  and  takes  a  fine  polish,  and  is 
much  esteemed  for  various  kinds  of  cabinet-work;  but  the 
woodsmen  require  to  dry  and  consolidate  it  by  surround- 
ing it  with  artificial  fires  before  felling  the  trees,  else  they 
might  be  blistered  and  blinded  by  its  juice.  And  the  cab- 
inet-makers must  cover  their  faces  with  fine  lawn  while 
working  it,  else  they  might  get  their  eyes  inflamed,  and 
temporarily  blinded,  with  its  exhalations  and  sawdust.    The 


121 

fruit  violently  inflames  the  mouth  and  throat  of  any  person 
who  tastes  it,  and  it  is  exceedingly  dangerous.  Any  avail- 
able part  of  the  plant  is  so  dreadfully  active  that  it  cannot, 
even  in  the 'smallest  doses,  be  safely  introduced  into  medi- 
cine. A  notion  prevails  among  the  Americans  that  the 
dew  which  falls  beneath  the  tree  is  inflammatory  and  blis- 
tering ;  but  this  seems  to  be,  the  author  adds,  an  absurd 
exaggeration.  The  name  Hippomane  signifies  horse-mad- 
ness, ascribing  to  the  tree  a  maddening  effect  upon  the 
horse.  Rural  Cyclopaedia.  Its  resemblance  to  our  Stttlin- 
gia,  which  is  a  mere  shrub,  is  close,  and  the  tree  wants  a 
careful  investigation  at  the  hands  of  those  living  in  Florida. 
I  have  collected  the  milk  from  the  Euphorbia  and  Asclepias, 
and  hardened  it,  though  not  in  sufficient  amount  to  test  its 
qualities. 

Stillingia  sylvatica,  L.  Queen's  delight.  Collected  in  the 
pine  barrens  of  St.  John's,  Berkley,  in  great  abundance; 
Richland  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  JSTewbern.     Fl.  Aug. 

U.  S.  Disp.  687  ;  Frost  in  So.  Journal  Med.  and  Pharm., 
Oct.  1846 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  535.  This 
plant  exudes  a  milky  juice,  very  pungent  to  the  taste,  and 
flowing  in  great  abundance  from  the  bruised  surface.  It  is 
used  to  some  extent  in  this  state,  as  an  alterative  in  scrof- 
ula, in  syphilis,  in  cutaneous  diseases,  in  chronic  hepatic 
affections,  and  in  the  composition  of  diet  drinks ;  it  adds 
to  the  efficacy  of  sarsaparilla.  We  are  informed  by  a  phy- 
sician residing  in  South  Carolina,  that  he  has  treated  syph- 
ilis successfully  with  i't.  It  is  believed  to  be  possessed  of 
valuable  properties,  and  greater  attention  should  be  paid  to 
it  by  those  living  in  the  country  where  it  is  easily  obtained. 
A  tincture  is  made  with  the  root  two  ounces,  of  diluted 
alcohol  a  pint.  Dose  a  fluid  drachm.  A  decoction  is  made 
of  the  bruised  root  one  ounce,  water  one  and  one-quarter 
pints.  Boil  to  one  pint.  Dose,  one  or  two  fluidounces 
several  times  a  day  ;  an  overdose  is  cathartic  or  emetic. 
The  milky  juices  should  be  examined.  I  have  inspissated 
that  from  the  Asclepias  and  Euphorbia.     See  these  genera, 


122 

ia  sebifera,  L.  Tallow-tree.  Nat.  from  China; 
collected  in  St.  John's,  forty-five  miles  from  the  ocean. 
I  have  seen  it  growing  abundantly  near  Charleston,  on 
the  King  street  road. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  476;  see  Oroton 
sebif  of  Mich.  An  ointment  made  from  this  is  applied  in 
nocturnal  fevers.  The  Chinese,  according  to  Thunberg, 
employ  the  concreted  oil  extracted  from  the  plant,  in  man- 
ufacturing candles.  The  Reporters  of  the  Patent  Office, 
for  1848,  speak  very  favorably  of  it,  and  recommend  its 
Introduction,  seeming  not  to  be  aware  of  its  being  already 
found  here.     See  their  method  of  extracting  the  oil. 

In  my  report  on  the  Medical  Botany  of  South  Carolina 
to  the  American  Medical  Association,  in  1849,  I  had,  as 
above,  reported  the  fact  of  this  tree  being  already  natural- 
ized. I  have  recommended  it  particularly  to  the  soap 
manufacturers  of  Charleston  and  the  Confederate  States, 
as  a  rich  material  for  oil.  The  seeds,  when  burned,  give 
out  a  great  deal  of  light.  It  could  be  planted  with  profit. 
In  the  Patent  Office  Report,  1851,  p.  54,  there  is  also  a 
paper  on  the  uses  of  the  S.  sebifera,  with  a  notice  of  the 
Pe-la,  or  Insect  Wax  of  China.  By  D.  J.  Macgowan,  M. 
D.,  dated  Ningpo,  August,  1850.  In  this  article,  it  is  stated 
that  the  Encyclopaedia  Americana  refers  to  its  being  grown 
along  our  coast.  "Analytical  chemistry  shows  animal 
tallow  to  consist  of  two  proximate  principles  —  stearine  and 
daine.  Now,  what  renders  the  fruit  of  this  tree  peculiarly 
Interesting,  is  the  fact  that  both  these  principles  exist  in  it 
separately,  in  nearly  a  pure  state."  "Nor  is  the  tree  prized 
merely  for  the  stearine  and  elaine  it  juelds,  though  these 
products  constitute  its  chief  value  :  its  leaves  are  employed 
as  a  black  dye ;  its  wood,  being  hard  and  durable,  may  be 
easily  used  for  printing-blocks,  and  various  other  articles ; 
and,  finally,  the  refuse  of  the  nut  is  employed  as  fuel  and 
manure."  Dr.  Roxburgh,  in  his  Flora  Indica,  had  con- 
demned the  plant  as  of  little  value,  because,  in  simply 
crushing  and  boiling  the  seeds,  the  two  principles  referred  to 
as  existing  together  are  not  properly  separated.    I  had  my- 


123 

self,  long  since,  in  my  report,  published  in  1849,  and  also  in 
my  paper  in  DeBow's  Review,  August,  1861,  recommended 
tliis  plant  to  the  candle  and  soap  manufacturers  for  the 
large  amount  of  oil  it  contained,  and  because  of  its  abun- 
dance around  Charleston.  I  also  gave  some  of  the  seeds 
to  a  manufacturer  of  castor  oil,  to  experiment  with,  in 
1851.  I  will  now  quote  from  the  paper  mentioned,  and 
also  refer  the  reader  to  a  paper  on  the  subject  in  the 
Charleston  Medical  Journal,  by  H.  W.  Raven  el. 

"  The  Stillingia  sebifera  is  chiefly  cultivated  in  the  provin- 
ces of  Brangsi,  Kongnain,  and  Chekkiang.  In  some  districts 
near  Uangchan,.  the  inhabitants  defray  all  their  taxes  with 
its  produce.  It  grows  alike  on  low,  alluvial  plains,  and  on 
granite  hills,  on  the  rich  mould,  at  the  margin  of  canals, 
and  on  the  sandy  sea-beach.  The  sandy  estuary  of  Hang- 
chan  yields  little  else.  Some  of  the  trees  are  known  to  be 
several  hundred  years  old,  and,  though  prostrated,  still  send 
forth  branches  and  bear  fruit.  Some  are  made  to  fall  over 
rivulets,  forming  convenient  bridges.  They  are  seldom 
planted  where  anything  else  can  be  conveniently  cultivated 
— in  detached  places,  in  corners  about  houses,  roads,  canals, 
and  fields.  Grafting  is  performed  at  the  close  of  March,  or 
early  in  April,  when  the  trees  are  about  three  inches  in 
diameter,  and  also  when  the}7  attain  their  growth.  The 
Fragrant  Herbal  recommends  for  trial  the  practice  of  an  old 
gardener,  who,  instead  of  grafting,  preferred  breaking  the 
small  branches  and  twigs,  taking  care  not  to  tear  or  wound 
the  bark.  In  midwinter,  when  the  nuts  are  ripe,  they  are 
cut  off,  with  their  twigs,  by  a  sharp,  crescentic  knife, 
attached  to  the  extremity  of  a  long  pole,  which  is'  held  in 
the  hand,  and  pushed  upward  against  the  twigs,  removing 
at  the  same  time  such  as  are  fruitless.  The  capsules  are 
gently  pounded  in  a  mortar,  to  loosen  the  seeds  from  their 
shells,  from  which  they  are  separated  by  sifting.  To  facili- 
tate the  separation  of  the  white,  sebaceous  matter  envelop- 
ing the  seeds,  they  are  steamed  in  tubs  having  convex  open 
wicker  bottoms,  placed  over  caldrons  of  boiling  water. 
When  thoroughly  heated,  they  are  reduced  to  a  mash  in 


124 

» 

the'mortar,  and  thence  transferred  to  bamboo  sieves,  kept 
at  a  uniform  temperature  over  hot  ashes.  A  single  opera- 
tion does  not  suffice  to  deprive  them  of  all  their  tallow ; 
the  steaming  and  sifting  are  therefore  repeated.  The  arti- 
cle thus  procured  becomes  a  solid  mass  on  falling  through 
the  sieve,  and,  to  purify  it,  is  melted  and  formed  into  cakes 
for  the  press.  These  receive  their  form  in  bamboo  hoops, 
a  foot  in  diameter,  and  three  inches  deep,  which  are  laid  on 
the  ground  over  a  little  straw.  On  being  filled  with  the 
.  hot  'liquid,  the  buds  of  the  straw  are  drawn  up  and  spread 
over  the  top,  and  when  of  sufficient  consistence,  are  placed 
with  their  rings  in  the  press.  This  apparatus,  which  is  of 
the  rudest  description,  is  constructed  of  two  large  beams, 
placed  horizontally,  so  as  to  form  a  trough  capable  of  con- 
taining about  fifty  of  the  rings,  with  their  sebaceous  cakes. 
At  one  end  it  is  closed,  and  at  the  other  it  is  used  for 
receiving  wedges,  which  are  successively  driven  into  it  by 
ponderous  sledge-hammers,  wielded  by  athletic  men.  The 
tallow  oozes  in  a  melted  state  into  a  receptacle  below, 
where  it  cools.  It  is  again  melted,  and  poured  into  tubs 
smeared  with  mud,  to  prevent  its  adhering.  It  is  now 
marketable,  in  masses  of  about  eighty  pounds  each,  hard, 
brittle,  white,  opaque,  tasteless,  and  without  the  odor  of 
animal  tallow.  Under  high  pressure  it  scarcely  stains 
bibulous  paper;  melts  at  104°  Fahrenheit.  It  may  be 
regarded  as  nearly  pure  slearine;  the  slight  difference 
is  doubtless  owing  to  the  admixture  of  oil  expressed 
from  the  seeds  in  the  process  just  described.  The  seeds 
yield  about  eight  per  cent,  of  tallow,  which  sells  for 
about  five  cents  per  pound.  The  process  for  pressing  the 
oil,  which  is  carried  on  at  the  same  time,  remains  to  be 
noticed.  It  is  contained  in  the  kernel  of  the  nut — the 
sebaceous  matter  which  lies  between  the  shell  and  the 
husk  having  been  removed  in  the  manner  described.  The 
kernel,  and  the  husk  covering  it,  are  ground  between  two 
stones,  which  are  heated  to  prevent  clogging  from  the  seba- 
ceous matter  still  adhering.  The  mass  is  then  placed  in  a 
winnowing  machine,  precisely  like  those  in  use  in  western 


125 

countries.  The  chaff  being  separated,  exposes  the  white, 
oleaginous  kernels,  which,  after  being  strained,  are  placed 
in  a  mill  to  be  mashed.  This  machine  is  formed  of  a  cir- 
cular stone  groove,  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  three  inches 
deep,  and  about  as  many  wide,  into  which  a  thick,  solid 
stone  wheel,  eight  feet  in  diameter,  tapering  at  the  edge,  is 
made  to  revolve  perpendicularly  by  an  ox  harnessed  to  the 
outer  end  of  its  axle,  the  inner  turning  on  a  pivot  in 
the  centre  of  the  machine.  Under  this  perpendicular 
weight  the  seeds  are  reduced  to  a  mealy  state,  steamed  in 
the  tubs,  formed  into  cakes,  and  pressed  by  wedges  in  the 
manner  above  described;  the  process  of  mashiLg,  steaming, 
and  dressing  being  repeated  with  the  kernels  likewise. 
The  kernels  yield  about  thirty  per  cent,  of  oil.  It  is  called 
ising-yu,  sells  for  about  three  cents  a  pound,  answers  well 
for  lamps,  though  inferior  for  this  purpose  to  some  other 
vegetable  oils  in  use.  It  is  also  employed  for  various  pur- 
poses in  the  arts,*and  has  a  place  in  the  Chinese  pharmaco- 
poeia because  of  its  quality  of  changing  gray  hair  black, 
and  other  imaginary  virtues.  The  husk  which  envelops 
the  kernel,  and  the  shell  which  encloses  them  and  their 
sebaceous  covering,  are  used  to  feed  the  furnaces — scarcely 
any  other  fuel  being  needed  for  this  purpose.  The  resid- 
uary tallow  cakes  are  also  employed  for  fuel,  as  a  small 
quantity  of  it  remains  ignited  a  whole  day.  It  is  in  great 
demand  for  chafing-dishes  during  the  cold  season,  and, 
finally,  the  cakes  which  remain  after  the  oil  has  been 
pressed  out  are  much  valued  as  a  manure,  particularly  for 
tobacco  fields,  the  soil  of  which  is  rapidly  impoverished 
by  the  Virginia  weed.  Artificial  illumination  in  China  is 
generally  procured  by  vegetable  oils ;  but  candles  are  also 
employed  by  those  who  can  afford  it,  and  for  lanterns.  In 
religious  ceremonies  no  other  material  is  used.  As  no  one 
ventures  out  after  dark  without  a  lantern,  and  as  the  gods 
cannot  be  acceptably  worshipped  without  candles,  the  quan- 
tit}7  consumed  is  very  great.  With  an  unimportant  excep- 
tion, the  candles  are  made  of  what  I  beg  to  designate  as 
vegetable  stearine.     When  the  candles,  which  are  made  by 


126 

dipping,  are  of  the  required  diameter,  they  receive  a  final 
dip  into  a  mixture  of  the  same  material  and  insect  wax,  by 
which  their  consistency  is  preserved  in  the  hottest  weather. 
They  are  generally  colored  red,  which  is  done  by  throwing  a 
minute  quantity  of  alkanet  root  (Anchusa  tinctoria),  brought 
from  Shangtung,  into  the  mixture.  Verdigris  is  sometimes 
employed  to  dye  them  green.  The  wicks  are  made  of  rush 
coiled  round  a  stem  of  coarse  grass,  the  lower  part  of  which 
is  slit  to  receive  the  pin  of  the  candlestick,  which  is  more 
economical  than  if  put  into  a  socket.  Tested  in  the  mode 
recommended  by  Count  Iiumford,  these  candles  compare 
favorably  with  those  made  from  spermaceti,  but  not  when 
the  clumsy  wick  of  the  Chinese  is  employed.  Stearine 
candles  cost  about  eight  cents  per  pound. 

Euphorbia  corolhta,  L.  "Wild  hippo ;  wild  ipecac.  Col- 
lected in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  Charleston  district;  in  dry 
soils ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  ISTewbern.  *  Fl.  Aug. 

Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  82;  Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  199; 
Am.  Journal  Med.  Sci.  xi,  22 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  321 ;  Big.  Am. 
Med.  Bot,  iii,  119 ;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  542 ;  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  179;  Clayton's  Phil.  Trans.  Abriclg. 
331 ;  Zollickotfer,  Mat.  Med.  1819 ;  cit.  in  Bart.  loc.  sup. ; 
Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  272  ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot,  593.  It  is  emetic, 
diaphoretic,  and  cathartic.  Dr.  Zollickoft'er  thinks  that,  as 
a  diaphoretic,  combined  with  Dover's  powder,  it  is  not  in- 
ferior to  ipecacuanha.  He  tried  it  in  seven  cases.  Twenty 
grains  of  the  powdered  root  would  produce  emesis,  some- 
times followed  by  hypercatharsis.  Dr.  McKeen  states  that 
twelve  grains  of  the  root  in  substance  have  double  the  pur- 
gative power  of  an  equal  quantity  of  jalap.  "Combined 
with  opium  and  the  sulphate  of  potassa,  an  excellent 
diaphoretic  in  dropsy."  See  Diet,  de  Mat.  Med.  Dr.  Frost, 
Prof.  Mat.  Med.  South  Carolina  Med.  Coll.,  thinks  it  quite 
as  active  as  the  ipecacuanha,  and  fully  entitled  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  profession,  he  having  used  it  with  benefit 
in  his  own  practice.  "Even  should  they  not  be  employed, 
every  physician  should  be  instructed  in  their  properties, 


127 

and,  when  occasion  requires",  know  the  substitute  he  can 
apply  to  in  case  of  need."  Op.  cit.  82.  A  drachm  to  eighty 
or  one  hundred  grains  may  be  added  to  a  half  pint  of 
hot  water,  which  may  be  given  in  tablespoonful  doses 
every  five  or  ten  minutes  till  vomiting  is  induced.  This  is 
a  convenient  mode  of  administration.  According  to  ex- 
periment, the  contused  root  will  excite  vesication  and 
inflammation  if  applied  to  the  skin.  Maj.  John  Leconte, 
of  New  York,  informs  me  that  he  has  been  much  pleased 
with  its  effects  as  a  sudorific.  Dose  as  an  emetic,  twenty 
grains ;  as  a  cathartic,  ten  grains ;  as  a  diaphoretic,  four 
grains.  This  plant  is  easily  obtained,  and  can  be  conven- 
iently prescribed.  It  should  be  used  with  caution  in  cases 
of  insensibility  of  the  stomach. 

Euphorbia  ipecacuanha.  Carolina  hippo.  Grows  in  Abbe- 
ville, Edgefield,  and  Colleton  districts  ;  Newbern.  Fl. 
June. 

U.  S.  Disp.  223 ;  Barton's  Med.  Bot.  120.  .  An  energetic 
and  tolerably  certain  emetic ;  but  liable  sometimes  to  pro- 
duce excessive  nausea  by  accumulation  ;  hence,  thought  by 
some  writers  "wholly  unfit  to  supersede  the  officinal  ipe- 
cacuanha." "This  opinion,  however,  has  been  questioned 
by  Hewson,  lioyal,  and  others.  Barton  said  it  was  equal, 
and  in  some  respects  superior.  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  114 ; 
Shec.  Flora  Carol.  555 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med. 
iii,  182  ;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  272  ;  Schoepf,  Mat.  Med.  74 ;  B. 
S.  Barton,  Collec.  26;  W.  P.  Barton,  Veg.  Mat.  Med.; 
Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  592 ;  Frost's  Eleins.  81.  It  sometimes 
has  its  action  extended  to  the  bowels,  and  operates  wTith  a 
considerable  degree  of  activity.  Dose  as  an  emetic,  fifteen 
to  twenty  grains ;  as  a  diaphoretic,  five  grains.  Bigelow 
notices  among  its  constituents  caoutchouc,  resin,  mucus, 
and  fsecula.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  109.  It  is  evident,  from 
the  variety  of  opinions  expressed  in  relation  to  this  plant, 
that  it  should  be  given  with  caution.  Both  species  are 
considered  to  be  more  active  than  the  imported  ipecac- 
uanha. 


128 

Euphorbia  hypericifolia,  L.  Spurge ;  eye-bright.  Grows  in 
the  upper  district,  according  to  Elliott;  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton, Bach ;  Collected  in  St.  John's ;  found  by  Dr.  Boykin, 
in  Georgia.    Fl.  July. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  321.  Highly  recommended  by  Dr.  Zol- 
lickofi'er,  of  Baltimore,  in  dysentery,  after  due  depletion. 
In  diarrhoea,  meuorrhagia,  and  leucorrhcea,  a  half  ounce  of 
the  dried  leaves  is  infused  in  a  pint  of  boiling  water,  of 
which  a  fluid  half  ounce  must  be  taken  every  hour  in  dys- 
entery, and  the  same  quantity  after  every  evacuation  in  di- 
arrhoea, and  two  ounces  morning,  noon,  and  night,  in 
amenorrhcea,  fluor  albus,  etc.  See,  also,  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Supplem.  to  the  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  1845,  282,  where  Dr. 
Zollickoffer's  success  in  twelve  cases  is  referred  to ;  also, 
Am.  Journal  of  Med.  Sci.  Nov.  1832 ;  M.  and  de  L.  iii,  181. 
It  possesses  some  narcotic  power,  also,  which  contributes 
to  render  it  peculiarly  applicable  in  these  diseases.  Journal 
Med.  de  la  Gironde,  161,  1825.  Martius  says  it  has  the 
same  properties  as  the  E.  linearis  the  milky  juice  of  which 
is  used  in  Brazil  in  syphilitic  ulcers.  He  had  often  tested 
its  value  in  ulcers  of  the  cornea.  Journal  de  Chim.  v,  427. 
The  juice  applied  to  the  eye  causes  severe  smarting,  and  it 
is  thought  to  cause  the  severe  salivation  to  Which  grazing 
horses  are  subject.  From  several  of  the  spurge  tribe  a 
gum  (euphorbium)  is  obtained  by  incision,  which  concretes 
by  exposure  to  the  air.  It  is  a  dangerous  irritant,  and  has 
to  be  handled  with  caution.  Mixed  with  starch  to  weaken 
it,  it  may  be  used  externally.  Our  Euphorbias  should  be 
examined  for  caoutchouc,  and  the  juice  investigated  care- 
fully and  cautiously;  so,  also,,  the  juice  of  the  Stillingia. 

Euphorbia  maculata,  L.  Cultivated  soils ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston  ;  collected  in  St.  John's.    El.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  184 ;  Ainslie,  Mat. 
Med.  Ind.  ii,  76.  Juice  employed  with  great  success  in 
cleansing  the  cornea  of  the  spots  and  pellicles  (les  pelli- 
cules)  following  small  pox.  Merat  says  the  ancients  recom- 
mended  these   plants   in    diseases   of  the   eye.     Dr.    Zol- 


129 

lickoffer  speaks  of  this  species,  also,  as  possessing  valuable 
properties.     All  are  endowed  with  some  emetic  power. 

Euphorbia  heUoscopia.  Grows  near  the  Horseshoe  bridge, 
Ashepoo,  and  on  Hutchinson's  island.  See  Ell.  Sketches. 
Fl.  May. 

Dem.  filem.  de  Botanique,  ii,  21.  "A  valuable  purga- 
tive." According  to  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii, 
181,  it  is  useful  in  spyhilis  when  mercury  is  contraindicated. 
Dr.  Eonne  assures  the  profession  of  its  utility.  See  Bulk 
des  Sci.  de  Fer.  ii,  354. 

Euphorbia  thymifolia,  L.  Included  by  Thomas  Walter,  in 
his  Flora  Carolina,  among  the  South  Carolina  species- 
Mich,  says  it  grows  on  the  Mississippi.  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  188.  In  India,  the  powder  is  admin- 
istered in  the  verminous  disorders  of  infants.  Ainslie, 
Mat.  Med.  Ind.  275. 

Mercurialis  annua.  Grows  around  Charleston.  Intro- 
duced. 

A  poisonous,  narcotic  plant,  with  emetic  properties,  but 
less  active  than  the  M.  perennis.  Seeds  purgative.  It  par- 
takes, to  a  certain  extent,  of  the  acrid  qualities  of  the 
Euphorbiacese. 

Celastrace^e. 

De  Oand.  says  an  acrid  principle  has  been  detected  among 
the  species. 

Euonymus  Amerkanus.  Rare ;  grows  in  swamps ;  col- 
lected in  St.  John's,  Berkley.   Fl.  May. 

Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  220.  Emetic,  discutient,  and  anti- 
syphilitic.  It  is  also  thought  to  be  narcotic.  The  seeds 
are  said  to  be  nauseous,  purgative,  and  emetic,  and  are 
used  in  some  places  to  destroy  vermin  in  the  hair.  Leaves 
are  poisonous  to  cattle. 

Euonymus  atropurpureus.     Possesses  properties  similar  to 
the  above. 
9 


130 

Staphyleace.e.     (Bladder-nut  Family.) 

Staphylea  trifoha,  L.  Three  leaved  bladder-nut.  Damp 
woods  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  northward  (Chap). 

The  nut  of  our  tree  ^resembles  closely  that  of  the  S.  pin- 
nata,  which  is  used  in  Catholic  countries  for  making  rosa- 
ries. Rosaries  are  also  made  of  the  seeds  of  the  Pride  of 
India  tree  (Melia).  The  nuts  of  the  8.  trifoliata  resemble  a 
large,  inflated  bladder. 

Cyrilla  racemiflora,  Walter.  Grows  in  swamps,  and  inun- 
dated lands ;  collected  in  St.  John's,  where  it  is  found  in 
abundance;  vicinity  of  Charleston;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  295.  The  outer  bark  of  the  old- 
est shrubs,  near  the  root,  is  extremely  light  and  friable,  and 
absorbs  moisture.  It  has  been  used  with  advantage  as  a 
substitute  for  agaric  and  other  styptics.  I  learn  that  it  is 
much  confided  in  for  this  purpose  by  those  living  in  Dar- 
lington district,  South  Carolina.  When  rubbed  on  the 
hand,  it  produces  a  sensation  similar  to  that  produced  by 
the  application  of  an  astringent  fluid.  It  has  also  been 
applied  to  ulcers  when  the  indication  is  to  cicatrize  them. 
This  plant  merits  further  attention. 

Cliftonia  ligustrina,  Banks.  (3fylocarium,  Willd.)  Titi. 
Pine-barren  ponds  and  swamps,  Florida,  and  lower  dis- 
tricts of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

Mr.  Johnson,  of  Beaufort,  S.  C,  informs  me  that  the 
stems,  when  dried,  are  found  to  suit  admirably  for  pipe- 
stems — a  heated  wire  being  passed  through  the  pith. 

Clusiace^e.     (Balsam.  Tree  Family.) 

Clusia  Jfava,  L.     South  Florida. 

Wilson,  in  his  Rural  Cyclopaedia,  says  that  the  balsam 
tree,  Clusia  rosea,  grows  in  Carolina  and  West  India  islands. 
"A  balsam  resembling  turpentine  exudes  from  every  part 
of  the  tree,  and  has  been  much  used  as  a  plaster  for  the 
cure  of  sciatica.     The  West  Indians  call  this  balsam  ho^ 


131 

gum,  from  a  belief  that  wild  hogs  rub  themselves  against 
it  to  obtain  a  cure  of  their  wounds." 

Canella  alba.     Swartz.     South  Florida.     Chap. 
This  is  an  aromatic  tree,  bearing  black  berries. 

Portulacace^e.     (The  Purslane  Tribe.) 

Portalaca  oleracea,  Walter.  Garden  purslane.  Grows  in 
yards  and  rich  soils;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  collected  in  St. 
John's;  Newbern.     Fl.  Aug. 

Linn.  Veg.  M.  Med.  88;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  v,  458.  It  is  antiscorbutic,  diuretic,  and  anthelmin- 
tic, and  vaunted  as  an  antidote  for  poisoning  from  can- 
tharides.  According  to  Linnaeus,  the  herb  was  used  in 
strangury.  It  will  coagulate  milk.  The  American  dispen- 
satories do  not  vouchsafe  it  the  same  notice  that  it  has 
received  in  various  parts  of  Europe.  It  has  long  been  used 
as  a  salad  and  potherb.  The  young  shoots  are  gathered 
when  from  two  to  live  inches  long.  Rural  Cyclopaedia.  A 
blue  color  is  obtained  from  this  plant.  The  following  is 
given  by  an  agricultural  journal :  Boil  a  bushel  of  garden 
parsley  or  purslane  till  soft  in  an  iron  pot  or  kettle,  and 
strain  off  the  liquor;  boil  a  pound  of  logwood,  also  in  iron, 
for  two  hours,  strain  off  the  liquor,  and  mix  the  purslane 
water;  then  dissolve  half  a  pound  of  alum  in  soft  water, 
sufficient  to  cover  three  pounds  of  yarn ;  put  it  in  a  brass 
or  copper  kettle,  and  simmer  the  yarn  in  it  for  three  hours ; 
then  wring  and  put  into  the  dye  ;  simmer  this  three  hours, 
with  frequent  stirring.  The  depth  of  the  color  may  be 
varied  by  varying  the  quantity  of  the  logwood.  A  very 
desirable  blue  dye  is  obtained.  See  Ohio  and  Southern 
Cultivator. 

Silenece^;.     (The  Dianthus  Tribe.) 

Uniformly  insipid. 

Silene    Virginica,   L.      Grows  on  the   margin    of  roads ; 
vicinity  of  Charleston;  collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl.  June. 


132 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  188 ;  Barton's  Collec.  i.  39 ;  U.  S. 
Disp.  1296 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  342  ;  De 
Cand.  Essai,  94 ;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  125.*  The  decoc- 
tion of  the  root  acts  as  an  anthelmintic. 

Saponaria  officinalis,  Linn.  Soapwort.  Nat.  in  upper 
districts  ;  Newbern.     Fl.  Aug. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1293.  This  plant  imparts  to  water  the  pro- 
perty of  forming  a  lather,  from  a  principle  it  contains 
called  saponine,  which  is  allied  to  the  active  constituent  of 
sarsaparilla,  and  as  a  substitute  for  which  it  is  frequently 
used.  This  is  obtained  by  treating  the  watery  extract 
with  alcohol,  and  evaporating.  It  has  been  used  in  Ger- 
many in  visceral  and  scrofulous  affections,  cutaneous  erup- 
tions, and  by  some  is  thought  superior  to  sarsaparilla  in 
efficacy.  The  decoction  or  the  extract  may  be  given. 
Audiw  said  the  inspissated  juice  would  generally  cure 
gonorrhoea  in  two  weeks,  without  any  other  remedy.  Op. 
tit  Wade's  PI.  Rariores,  32 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  vii,  220;  Flore  Med.  vi,  311.  It  is  regarded  as  diu- 
retic, aperient,  and  sudorific,  recommended  in  engorgement 
of  the  abdominal  viscera,  stomach,  intestines,  lymphatic 
glands,  and  in  icterus,  cachexy,  etc.  On  account  of  its 
sudorific  properties,  it  is  advised  in  syphilis,  rheumatism, 
and  gout.  Perrihle  gave  it  combined  with  mercury;  while 
fresh,  administering  it  in  doses  of  one-half  ounce  of  the  de- 
coction, or  from  twenty-four  to  forty-eight  grains  of  the 
extract.  Journal  de  Chim  Med.  vi,  747,  and  vii,  710 ; 
Ludolff,  Diss,  de  Rad.  Sap.  Offic.  Erfordire,  1756;  J.  F. 
Cartheusen,  Diss,  de  Sap.  Frankfort ;  Amielhon,  "  Si  le 
Struthium  des  anciens  est  veritablement  la  saponaire  des 
modernes."     Mem.  Nat.  des  Sci.  et  des.  Arts,  i.  587. 

A  decoction  of  this  plant  has  been  used  in  some  coun- 
tries as  a  substitute  for  soap,  and  is  well  capable  of  cleans- 
ing woollen  fabrics;  the  leaves  were  considered  laxative. 
Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  Consult  "Sapindus  "  and  "  JEsculus." 
in  this  paper,  for  other  plants  used  as  substitutes  for  soap. 
The    Sapindus   (soapwort)    also   furnishes    one   species,    S. 


133 

mar  [fin  alas,  which  may  he  useful.     Found  in  Florida  and 
Georgia,  near  the  coast. 

Salsola  soda.  Barilla  plant.  I  would  particularly  advise 
the  planting  in  the  Confederate  States  of  this  plant  (culti- 
vated so  largely  in  Spain,  Sicily,  and  Sardinia),  on  ac- 
count of  its  great  value  in  the  ready  manufacture  of  crude 
soda — which  is  now  supplanting,  on  account  of  its  cheap- 
ness, the  use  of  potash  in  the  manufacture  of  soap.  Be- 
side, soda  gives  a  hard  soap.  According  to  the  analysis 
of  life,  "good  barilla  contains  twenty  per  cent,  of  real 
alkali,  associated  with  muriates  and  sulphates  of  lime, 
soda,"  etc.  Caustic  lyes  made  from  it  are  used  in  the 
finishing  process  of  hard  soap  manufacture. 

The  Salsola  kali,  L.  Saltwort.  S.  Carolmiana  of  Walt. 
It  grows  in  Georgia,  and  northward ;  and- 1  have  little  doubt 
is  rich  in  soda,  and  may  be  made  of  great  use  to  us  in  the 
production  of  this  most  important  product. 

The  barillas,  Ure  says,  "  always  contain  a  small  propor- 
tion of  potash,  to  which  their  peculiar  value,  in  making  a 
less  brittle  or  more  plastic  hard  soap  than  the  fictitious 
sodas,  may,  with  great  probability,  be  ascribed." 

I  will  give  the  method  of  preparing  soda  from  the  Sal- 
sola: "Of  manufactured  soda,  the  variety  most  anciently 
known  is  barilla,  the  incinerated  ash  of  the  Salsola  soda. 
This  plant  is  cultivated  with  great  care  by  the  Spaniards, 
especially  in  the  vicinit}^  of  Alicaut.  The  seed  is  sown  in 
light,  low  soils,  which  are  embanked  toward  the  sea-shore, 
and  furnished  with  sluices  for  admitting  an  occasional 
overflow  of  salt  water.  When  the  plants  are  ripe,  the 
crop  is  cut  down  and  dried;  the  seeds  are  rubbed  out,  and 
preserved ;  the  rest  of  the  plant  is  burned  in  rude  fur- 
naces, at  a  temperature  just  sufficient  to  cause  the  ashes 
to  enter  into  a  state  of  semifusion,  so  as  to  concrete  on 
cooling  into  cellular  masses,  moderately  compact,"  etc. 
"Another  mode  of  manufacturing  crude  soda  is  by  burn- 
ing sea-weed  into  kelp."     Ure.     Now,  crude  soda,  and  the 


184 

soda  ash  of  commerce,  are  made  altogether  by  the  decom- 
position of  sea  salt.  I  am  not  aware  whether  our  native 
Salsola  kali  grows  in  abundance  upon  the  coast  of  the 
Carolinas  and  Georgia.  See  "Corn"  {Zea  mays)  for  eco- 
nomical mode  of  making  soda  from  corn-cobs. 

Directions  for  making  "Home-made"  Soda. — The  Rich- 
mond Dispatch  publishes  the  following:  "The  prepara- 
tion more  closely  resembles  saleratus  than  soda,  and  is  a 
comparatively  pure  article  for  making  bread.  It  is  more 
valuable  in  view  of  the  scarcity  and  high  price  of  soda  in 
our  drug  stores.  After  making  a  strong  lye  from  ashes, 
boiling  down  to  dryness,  and  burning  till  white,  take  the 
residue  and  add  its  own  weight  of  cold  water,  set  in  a  cool 
place  for  several  days,  say  a  week,  stirring  frequently ; 
then  strain  through  a  fine  cloth,  and  boil  down  again  to 
dryness,  stirring  frequently,  and.  finally,  cork  up  the  pow- 
der so  obtained  in  a  bottle.  These  operations  should  all 
be  conducted  in  an  iron  vessel,  not  in  glass  or  stoneware." 

I  insert  the  following  from  a  journal  of  the  day,  hoping 
that  they  may  prove  useful : 

Soap  Receipts. — In  these  times  of  war  and  blockade, 
when  our  people  are  thrown  almost  entirely  upon  their  own 
resources,  every  item  looking  to  domestic  economy  and 
home  production  should  be  carefully  observed.  Our  people 
are  passing  through  a  trying  ordeal,  but  they  are  learning 
lessons  which  will  be  of  practical  utility  in  after  times. 
Habits  of  economy,  and  elements  of  self-reliance,  which 
have  been  pushed  aside  by  the  pressure  of  an  extravagant, 
sentiment,  by  an  increasing  love  for  easy  and  luxurious 
living,  and  by  the  versatility  of  Yankee  genius  in  supply- 
ing our  almost  every  want,  are  now,  from  the  influences 
of  necessity,  being  resumed,  while  they  are  found  to  em- 
body all  of  practical  utility  which  they  possessed  in  days 
of  yore. 

Looking  to  the  general  principle  of  domestic  economy 
and  home  effort,  we  annex  the  following  receipts  for  mak- 
ing soap,  which  we  find  in  the  "Wilmington  Journal.     One. 


135 

of  these  receipts  lias  been  patented  at  the  North.  If  tried, 
they  will  no  doubt  be  found  valuable  at  this  time: 

To  Make  Family  Soap*. — Take  six  quarts  of  soft  water, 
six  pounds  of  bar  soap,  one-quarter  of  a  pound  of  sal-soda, 
three  teaspoonfuls  spirits  turpentine,  one  and  a  half  tea- 
spoonful  hartshorn,  one  teaspoonsful  of  .camphor,  two  tea- 
spoonfuls  of  salt.  Cut  the  soap  up  fine,  boil  the  water, 
and  add  all  the  ingredients,  and  boil  thirty  minutes;  take 
off,  and  pour  into  shallow  vessels  to  cool  and  harden. 

Another.  —  Five  pounds  bar  soap,  four  pounds  sal-soda, 
two  ounces  borax,  and  one  ounce  hartshorn.  Dissolve  in 
twenty-two  quarts  of  soft  water,  and  boil  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes. 

To  31ake  Jelly  Soap. — After  pouring  out  of  the  vessel  the 
above  soaps,  pour  in  water  enough  to  wash  off  the  sides 
and  bottom,  and  boil  twenty  minutes.  Then  pour  off  to 
cool,  and  you  have  excellent  jelly  soap  for  washing  clothes, 
etc. 

To  Make  Soft  Soap.  —  Take  ten  pounds  potash  well  pul- 
verized, fifteen  pounds  grease,  and  three  buckets  boiling 
water.  Mix,  and  stir  potash  and  water  together  until  dis- 
solved. Then  add  the  grease,  stirring  well ;  put  all  into  a 
barrel,  and  every  morning  add  two  buckets  cold  water, 
stirring  it  well  each  time,  until  the  barrel  is  nearly  full,  or 
mixed  to  the  consistency  of  soft  soap. 

Consult  hickory,  Garya,  for  manufacture  of  potash  and 
potash  soap  from  ashes. 

Spergula  arvensis.  Walt ;  Linn.  Spurrey.  Grows  in  cul- 
tivated lands,  lower  country  of  South  Carolina;  vicinity  of 
Charleston  ;  collected  in  St.  John's. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  497  :  "  Cows  which 
feed  on  it  give  milk  of  a  richer  quality,  and  in  larger  quan- 
tities." The  seeds  of  a  variety  of  this  plant  growing  in 
German}*  continue  green  during  fall  and  winter,  are  far 
superior  to  pasture  grasses,  and  yield  an  oil  suitable  for 
lamps  upon  expression.  They  are  also  ground  up  with  rye, 
and  used  for  making  bread.     Poultry  eat  spurrey  in  any 


136 

form,  and  are  thought  to  become  very  prolific  of  eggs  when 
fed  upon  it.  Rural  Cyclopaedia,  and  Thaer's  Agricultural 
Chemistry. 

Stellaria  media.  Smith.  Chickweed ;  stitchwort.  Intro- 
duced.    Yards  and  gardens. 

The  herbage  is  greedily  devoured  by  hogs,  and  is  said  to 
be  nutritive,  and  suitable  for  being  boiled  and  eaten  in  the 
manner  of  spinach.  It  has  the  reputation,  when  boiled  in 
vinegar  and  salt,  of  possessing  virtue  to  cleanse  eruptions 
of  the  hands  and  limbs.  The  flowers  serve  in  some  degree 
as  a  natural  barometer ;  for  when  rain  is  approaching 
they  remain  closed,  and  in  dry  weather  they  are  regularly 
open  from  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  noon. 
"Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopaedia. 

Xanthoxylaceje. 

The  species  belonging  to  this  order  are  generally  aro- 
matic and  pungent. 

( Americanum,  T.  &  Gray,  ~\ 
Xanthoxylum.   Ifraxineum,  Wi\W.  I      Prickly    ash; 

]  ramiflorum,  Mich.  f  toothache  bush. 

^  Clava  Herculis,  Linn.  J 
Barham's  Hortus  Americanus.  The  scraped  root  is 
applied  to  ulcers  in  order  to  heal  them.  The  plant  pos- 
sesses stimulating  powers,  and  is  a  "powerful  sudorific 
and  diaphoretic;"  remarkable,  according  to  Barton,  for  its 
extraordinary  property  of  exciting  salivation,  whether  ap- 
plied immediately  to  the  gums,  or  taken  internally.  It  is 
reported  to  have  been  used  successfully  in  paralysis  of  the 
muscles  of  the  mouth,  and  in  rheumatic  affections.  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  179 ;  Journal  Gen.  de  Med. 
xl,  226.  Dr.  Gillespie  asserts  that  it  is  a  good  tonic  and 
febrifuge.  According  to  Cam,  the  Indians  employed  the 
decoction  as  an  injection  in  gonorrhoea:  "Voyage  to  Can- 
ada."    It  has  been  given  in  syphilis  as  a  substitute  for 


137 

guaiacum,  and  also  for  mezereon.  See  Anc.  Journal  cle 
Med.  ii,  314.  A  peculiar  principle,  xanthopierite,  is 
afforded  by  it.  See  also  X.  fraxineum,  with  which  this 
plant  is  frequently  confounded,  as  well  as  with  the  Aralia 
spmosa.  U.  S.  Disp.  Its  acrimony  is  imparted  to  boiling 
water,  and  to  alcohol.  According  to  Dr.  Staples,  besides 
fibrous  substances,  it  contains  volatile  oil,  a  greenish,  fixed 
oil,  resin,  gum,  coloring  matter,  and  a  peculiar  crystal- 
lizable  principle,  which  he  calls  xanthoxylin.  Journal 
Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  i,  165.  It  is  stimulating:  producing, 
when  swallowed,  a  sense  of  heat  in  the  stomach,  arterial 
excitement,  and  a  tendency  to  diaphoresis.  It  enjoys  con- 
siderable reputation  in  chronic  rheumatism.  Dose  of  pow- 
der from  ten  grains  to  half  a  drachm.  It  has  been  tried  by 
many  with  advantage  in  this  disease.  Barton's  Collec.  i, 
25,  52;  Thacher's  Disp.  sub.  A.  spinosa;  Big.  Am.  Med. 
Bot.  iii,  162.  In  rheumatism  an  infusion  is  given,  made  of 
one  ounce  of  the  bark  to  one  quart  of  boiling  water;  one 
pint  to  be  administered  in  divided  doses  during  the  twenty- 
four  hours.     Rep.  from  Surgeon-Gen.  Office,  1862. 

X.  Carolinianum,  Lam.  and  T.  and  G.  1      This  species  is 
tricarpum,  Ell.  Sk.  J  supposed     to    be 

possessed  of  similar  properties  with  the  above.  It  is  the 
prickly  ash  of  the  Southern  states.     T.  and  G. 

Chapman,  in  his  Flora  of  Southern  states,  does  not 
include  X.  Americanum  (toothache  bush,  Hercules'  club) 
among  our  Southern  plants. 

These  plants  have  the  reputation  in  America  of  being 
powerfully  sudorific  and  diaphoretic,  and  excite  copious 
salivation,  not  only  when  made  to  act  directly  on  the 
mouth,  but  when  taken  internally,  and  have  been  found 
highly  efficacious  in  paralysis  of  the  muscles  of  the  mouth. 
Rural  Cyc.  This  may  account  for  their  utility  in  tooth- 
ache. ' 

Simarubace^e.     (Quassia  Family.) 

Simaruba  Glauca.  D.  C.  Quassia.  South  Florida.  A 
large  tree.     Chap. 


138 

This  species  of  quassia,  though  not  the  officinal,  should 
be  examined  for  any  bitter  tonic  properties  it  may  contain. 

Geraniaceje.     [The  Geranium  Tribe.) 

Characterized  by  an  astringent  principle,  and  an  aro- 
matic or  resinous  flavor. 

Geranium  maculatum,  Linn.  Cranesbill;  crowfoot;  alum 
root. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst,  Bot.  137;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  304;  Eberle, 
Mat.  Med.  i,  382;  Bell's  Pract.  Diet,  218;  Big.  Am.  Med. 
Bot.  189;  Thacher's  Am.  Disp.  224;  U.  S.  Disp.  350; 
Royle,  Mat.  Med.  73;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  i,  140;  Pe  Mat. 
Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  751;  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  iv,  190; 
Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  i,  171;  Ed.  and  Yav.  Mat,  M6d. 
135;  Schoepf,  Mat.  Med.  107;  Barton's  Collec  7;  Cutler, 
Mem.  Am.  Acad,  i,  469;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  Mat. 
Med.  iii,  369 ;  Journal  Pharm.  xiii,  287.  It  is  a  powerful 
astringent,  adapted  to  passive  hemorrhages,  chronic  diar- 
rhoea, and  cholera  infantum.  It  is  injected  with  advantage 
in  cases  of  gleet  and  leucorrhcea,  and  is  used  as  a  wash  for 
old  ulcers.  Bigelow  speaks  of  it  as  a  very  powerful  astrin- 
gent, very  similar  to  kino  and  catechu,  and  a  useful  substi- 
tute for  the  more  expensive  articles.  It  forms  an  excellent 
local  application  in  sore  throats  and  ulcerations  of  the 
mouth,  and  is  adapted  to  the  treatment  of  such  discharges 
as  continue  from  debility  after  the  removal  of  their  excit- 
ing causes.  Colden  and  Schcepf  also  speak  highly  of  the 
root  in  dysentery;  and  Dr.  B.  S.  Barton,  in  cholera  infan- 
tum, used  the  decoction  in  milk.  Eberle  Avas  successful 
with  it,  in  his  treatment  of  aphthous  affections  of  the 
mouth,  and  of  ulcerations  of  the  fauces  and  tonsils.  Grif- 
fith, Med.  Bot,  209.  By  Staple's  examination,  Journal 
Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  i,  171,  it  contains  tannin,  gallic  acid, 
mucilage,  a  small  proportion  of  aniadin,  and  red  coloring 
matter;  from  the  bark,  a  small  quantity  of  resin  and  a 
peculiar  crystallizable  principle. 

Dose  of  the  powdered  root  in    substance,  is  twenty  to 


139 

thirty  grains,  one  to  two  ounces  of  the  tincture,  and  ten  to 
fifteen  grains  of  the  extract.  The  decoction  is  made  by 
boiling  one  ounce  of  the  root  in  one  pint  of  water,  the  dose 
of  which  is  one  to  two  tablespoonfuls.  The  extract  is  said 
to  be  the  best  form;  alcohol  and  proof  spirits,  however, 
readily  dissolve  the  active  principle,  and  the  tincture  keeps 
best. 

Balsaminace^e.     [The  Balsam   Tribe.) 

According  to  De  Cand.,  the  species  are  diuretic.  They 
are  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  elastic  force  with  which  the 
valves  of  the  fruit  separate  at  maturity,  expelling  the 
seeds.     Lind. 

f  'pallida,  ISTutt. ;  T.  and  G.  )        Touch-me-not; 

Impatiensi        7-  .  ttvh    en  -•  i  in 

1  \  noli  me  tangerc,  Ell.  Sk.    J  jewel-weed.    Grows 

in  inundated  swamps;  vicinity  of  Charleston;  collected  in 
St.  Johns.     Fl.  July. 

Bull  Plantes  Yen.  de  France,  166:  "The  whole  plant  is 
very  acrid,  and  is  used  as  a  cataplasm."  Elem  de  Bot.  iii, 
58.  Six  grains  of  the  dried  leaves  will  produce  nausea. 
The  IT.  S.  Disp.,  1264,  speaks  of  it  as  a  dangerous  plant, 
possessed  of  acrid  properties;  when  taken  internally,  act- 
ing as  an  emetic,  cathartic,  and  diuretic. 

OXALIDACEyE. 

Leaves  generally  acid. 

Oxalis  acetosella,  L.  White  wood-sorrel.  Mountains  of 
North  Carolina,  and  northward.     Chap. 

The  plant  is  a  very  agreeable  and  wholesome  salad,  and 
possesses  refrigerant,  antiscorbutic,  and  antiseptic  proper- 
ties. The  juice  coagulates  milk,  and  precipitates  lime  from 
solution.  When  boiled  in  milk,  it  gives  off  its  acidulous-' 
ness  to  the  whey;  and  either  this  whey,  or  the  expressed 
juice  of  the  plant,  much  diluted  with  water,  may  be  used 
as  a  good  refrigerant  drink  in  fevers.  Rural  Cyc.  The 
herb  is  powerfully  and  most  agreeably  acid,  making  a  re- 


140 

freshing  and  wholesome  conserve  with  fine  sugar;  its  flavor 
resembles  green  tea. 

Oxalis  violaced,  L.  Wood-sorrel.  Grows  in  rich  soils ; 
vicinity  of  Charleston ;  collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl.  May. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  66.  It  contains  the  oxalate  of  potash,  which 
imparts  to  it  its  pleasant,  acid  taste. 

Oxalis  corniculata,  L.     "i      Vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  similar 
"      furoata  Ell.  Sk.  j  in  properties  to  the  Ox.  violacea. 

Rosacea.     (The  Rose   Tribe.) 

None  of  the  species  are  unwholesome  ;  they  are  generally 
characterized  by  the  possession  of  an  astringent  principle. 
The  sub-order,  Amygdalece,  are  better  known  for  yielding 
Prussic  or  hydrocanic  acid. 

Poteatilla  (canadensis  f).  Grows  in  meadows,  in  lower  and 
upper  districts;  St.  John's,  South  Carolina. 

Dr.  Richard  Moore,  of  Sumter  district,  South  Carolina, 
informs  me  that  this  plant,  on  account  of  its  bitter,  mucil- 
aginous qualities,  has  been  found,  by  repeated  experiment, 
to  be  a  most  efficient  and  useful  remedy  in  the  treatment 
of  chronic  colds,  threatening  phthisis.  The  decoction  is 
used.     He  refers  to  the  plant  as  the  P.  reptans  (?). 

Rubus  villosus,  Ait.  High  bush  blackberry.  Diffused ; 
observed  in  Fairfield  district;  collected  in  St.  John's; 
vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  Newbern.     Fl.  May. 

Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  i,  386;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  453;  Ed.  and 
Vav.  Mat.  Med.  134;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  374;  IT.  S.  Disp. 
603-4;  Ball,  and  Gar.  Mat,  Med.  267;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot. 
ii,  160;  Chap.  Therap.  and  Mat.  Med.  ii,  474;  Thacher's 
IT.  S.  Disp.  341 ;  Bind.  Nat,  Syst,  144 ;  Barton's  Collec.  ii, 
157;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  270.  Bigelow  considers  it  a  power- 
ful astringent,  and  is  satisfied  of  its  efficacy,  administered 
both  internally  and  externally,  in  a  variety  of  cases  admit- 
ting of  relief  from  this  class  of  remedies.     Dr.  Chapman 


141 

also  speaks  highly  of  it  in  the  declining  stage  of  dysentery, 
after  the  symptoms  of  active  -inflammation  are  removed  ; 
he  asserts  that  nothing  in  his  hands  had  done  so  much  to 
check  the  inordinate  discharges  in  cholera  infantum  —  two 
or  three  doses  sufficing  to  bind  up  the  bowels.  The  decoc- 
tion is  made  of  one  ounce  of  the  root  in  a  pint  and  a  half 
of  water,  boiled  down  to  one  pint,  of  which  the  dose  for  a 
child  is  two  or  three  teaspoonfuls ;  for  an  adult,  a  wine- 
glassful  several  times  a  day ;  orange  peel  may  be  added. 
Dose  of  the  powdered  root,  twenty  or  thirty  grains.  No 
analysis  has  yet  been  made.  In  the  old  work  on  "Herbs," 
by  Nicholas  Culpepper,  gentleman,  "  Student  in  Physic 
and  Astrology,"  the  author  observes  of  one  of  the  genus 
Mubus :  "Either  the  decoction  or  powder  of  the  root  being 
taken,  is  good  to  break  or  drive  forth  gravel,  and  the  stone 
in  the  reins  and  kidneys."  "  The  berries,  and  the  flowers, 
are  a  powerful  remedy  against  the  poison  of  the  most 
venomous  serpents." — p.  48. 

Mubus  trivialis,  Mich.  Low  bash  dewberry;  creeping 
blackberry.  Diffused  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  collected  in 
St.    John's;  Newbern.     Fl.  April. 

Watson's  Pract.  Physic,  820 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  603 ;  Pe  Mat, 
Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  543 ;  Royle  Mat.  Med.  375  ;  Chap, 
on  Dis.  of  Thorac.  and  Abdom.  Viscera,  279 ;  British  and 
For.  Med.  Review,  Jan.  31,  1845;  Ball,  and  Gar.  Mat. 
Med.  268.  This  is,  no  doubt,  possessed  of  astringent  prop- 
erties similar  to  the  above  ;  a  decoction  of  the  root  is  said 
to  be  a  safe,  sure,  and  speedy  cure  for  dysentery — a  remedy 
derived  from  the  Oneida  Indians. 

As  Blackberry  wine  is  much  used  as  a  substitute  for  more 
costly  foreign  wines,  I  will  introduce  the  following  receipt 
for  making  it,  communicated  by  Mrs.  Summer,  of  South 
Carolina,  which  was  said  to  have  been  introduced  from 
Virginia  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Johnson.  Blackberry  wine, 
as  well  as  cordial  made  from  the  wild  cherry,  is  a  pleasantly 
stimulating  beverage,  useful  as  a  cordial,  capable  of  being 
medicated,  and  very  serviceable  in  families,  as  well  as  in 


142 

camps  and  hospitals.  It  can  easily  be  made  with  whisky, 
or  this  may  be  omitted.  It  is  only  strange  that  so  useful 
and  pleasant  a  drink,  and  one  within  the  reach  of  every 
one,  should,  until  recently,  have  been  so  little  made:  "To 
every  three  pints  of  berries,  add  one  quart  of  water ;  suffer 
it  to  stand  twenty-four  hours,  strain  through  a  colander, 
then  through  a  jelly-bag,  and  to  every  gallon  of  the  juice 
add  three  pounds  of  good  brown  sugar,  the  whites  of  three 
eggs  beaten  to  a  froth,  and  stirred  in  the  juice;  a  little 
spice,  with  two  dozen  cloves,  beaten  together,  and  one  nut- 
meg grated,  should  be  put  in  a  small  linen  bag  and  dropped 
in..  After  all  are  mixed,  put  it  in  a  stone  jug,  filled  up, 
and  kept  full  with  some  of  the  same  juice,  reserved  for 
that  purpose,  until  it  is  done  working,  which  will  be  in 
two  or  three  weeks.  Cork  it  tightly,  and  keep  it  in  a 
cold  place  for  three  or  four  months,  then  pour  it  off  into 
bottles,  with  a  little  loaf  sugar  in  each  bottle;  cork,  and 
seal  close.  If  the  wine  is  kept  for  twelve  months,  it  will 
be  still  better."  It  is  not  easy  to  overvalue  the  great 
utility  of  so  mild  an  alcoholic  drink,  combining  slightly 
astringent  vegetable  properties,  and  which  may  be  placed 
within  the  reach  of  almost  every  one.  I  have  seen  this 
wine  of  such  an  agreeable  flavor  and  taste  as  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  more  valued  wines.  Cheap  good  wines  are  cer- 
tainly the  greatest  boon  that  could  be  conferred  on  any 
country.     See  "Grape,"  Vitis. 

The  following  is  an  approved  method  of  making  Black- 
berry wine,  in  vogue  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  South  Caro- 
lina. I  insert  it  in  a  work  of  this  kind  for  its  general 
utility,  and  as  it  forms  an  approved  liquor  which  "  cheers 
but  not  inebriates."  Blackberries,  six  quarts;  boiling 
water,  two  quarts;  brown  sugar,  twxo  pounds.  The  whites 
of  six«  eggs  frothed,  added  when  the  jug  is  nearly  full. 
Mash  the  berries,  pour  in  the  water — let  it  remain  twenty- 
four  hours.  Strain  through  a  hair  sieve,  and  add  the 
sugar.  Leave  the  jug  open  for  two  weeks,  until  fermenta- 
tion ceases  —  then  you  may  add  a  glass  of  alcohol.  ("I?. 
S.")  See  "  Cera-sus,"  for  manufacture  of  "  blackberry 
cordial." 


143 

A  correspondent  in  the  Mobile  Register  gives  the  fol- 
lowing method  of  making  blackberry  cordial : 

Cordial  for  Sickness  in  the  Army. — To  alleviate  the 
sufferings,  and  perhaps  save  the  lives  of  many  of  our  sol- 
diers, whose  sickness  may  be  traced  to  the  use  of  unwhole- 
some water  in  limestone  regions,  I  recommend  the  use  of 
blackberry  cordial.  The  following  is  a  good  recipe : 
Bruise  the  berries,  and  strain  the  juice  through  a  bag; 
to  each  quart  of  the  juice  allow  a  half  pound  of  loaf 
sugar,  a  heaped  teaspoonful  of  powdered  cinnamon,  the 
same  of  powdered  cloves,  and  a  grated  nutmeg;  boil  these 
ingredients  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  skimming  them 
well.  When  cool,  stir  into  each  quart  a  half  pint  of 
brandy;  then  bottle,  and  cork  well.  In  case  brandy  and 
loaf  sugar  cannot  be  had,  substitute  good  whisky  and 
sugar-house  molasses.  Avoid  plantation  molasses,  brown 
sugar,  and  bad  whisky.     So  much  for  the  cure. 

To  prevent  the  disorder,  boil  the  water  of  the  country 
before  drinking  it.  The  process  of  boiling  precipitates  the 
impurities,  and  when  cool,  the  water  may  be  poured  from 
the  sediment  and  used. 

Compound  Syrup  of  Blackberries. — Medicated  Black- 
berries.— Useful  as  a  drink  in  diarrhoea,  and  to  supply 
soldiers  in  camp,  either  as  a  remedy  in  mild  cases  of 
diarrhoea  or  as  a  vehicle  for  medicines.  To  two  quarts 
of  the  juice  of  blackberries,  add  half  an  ounce  each  of 
cinnamon,  allspice,  and  nutmegs,  and  one  quarter  of  an 
ounce  of  cloves,  well  pulverized.  Boil  them  together  for 
fifteen  to  twenty  minutes  in  a  preserve  pan  or  kettle,  to 
get  the  strength  of  the  spices;  strain  through  a  piece  of 
flannel,  then  add  loaf  sugar  to  make  very  sweet,  and  while 
still  hot  add  to  every  two  quarts  of  the  juice  one  pint  of 
Cognac  brandy.  The  dose  of  this  for  an  adult  is  about  two 
tablespoonfuls  repeated.  One-fifth  portion  of  the  mixture 
is  brandy.  The  blackberry  root  is  an  easily  obtained  and 
valuable  astringent.  A  decoction  acts  as  an  astringent,  and 
will  check  diarrhoea.  The  rind  of  pomegranate,  which  is 
easily  portable,  boiled  in  milk,  is  an  excellent  remedy  in 


144 

diarrhoea  in  the  army,  to  be  used  during  scarcity  of  medi- 
cines. The  tree  grows  abundantly  in  the  Confederate 
States  ;  all  parts  of  it  are  medicinal. 

From  frequent  trials,  I  know  of  no  remedy  for  diarrhoea 
and  dysentery  of  teething  children,  superior  to  the  decoc- 
tion of  the  blackberry  root;  also,  during  the  convalescence 
from  dysentery  in  adults. 

The  leaves  of  blackberry  and  raspberry  are  recommended 
as  substitutes  for  foreign  tea. 

Rabus  occidentalism  Linn.  Virginian,  or  wild  raspberry. 
Grows  in  the  upper  districts ;  collected  in  St.  John's ; 
jSTewbern. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  131.  Properties 
identical  with  the  above.  It  is  thought  to  be  a  specific  in 
dysentery. 

Fragaria  vesca.     Ex.  cult.     Strawberry. 

Flore  Med.  iii,  169;  Griffith  Med.  Bot.  277.  Gesner 
speaks  of  the  good  effects  of  the  fruit  in  calculous  dis- 
orders, and  Linnpeus  extols  its  efficacy  in  gout,  having,  he 
says,  prevented  paroxysms  of  it  in  himself  by  partaking  of 
this  fruit  very  freely.  They  are  also  supposed  to  possess 
vermifuge  properties,  and  to  be  useful  in  phthisis.  The 
leaves  are  astringent,  and  are  recommended  in  bowel  com- 
plaints ;  and  the  roots  are  much  used  in  Europe  as  diu- 
retics ;  frequently  given  in  dysuria,  in  infusion,  made  with 
an  ounce  to  the  pint  of  water.  Op.  cit.  Lallemand,  in  his 
work  on  Spermatorrhoea,  p.  310,  states  that  strawberries  are 
quite  serviceable  in  relieving  irritable  conditions  of  the 
bladder  and  urethra. 

Fragaria  Virginiana,  Erhart.  Scarlet  Virginian  straw- 
berry.    Rich  woods  ;  Florida  to  Virginia.     Chap. 

It  was  introduced  into  England  in  1629,  and  possessed 
a  fame  equal  to  the  hautbois.  The  pulp  has  a  fine  flavor. 
Rural  Cyc.  This  plant  is  well  known,  and  its  economical 
value  and  application  require  no  description.     The  use  of 


145 

the  fruit  often  acts  beneficially  upon  dyspeptics,  who  are 
benefited  by  acids.  The  celebrated  Rousseau  was  always 
relieved  of  a  calculous  affection  by  eating  this  fruit.  See  his 
Confessions.  "The  old  Carolina  strawberry  is  a  well  known 
and  much  esteemed  variety.  The  pulp  is  colored  and  juicy, 
and  has  a  fine  vinous  flavor."  By  pinching  off  all  the  first 
flowers  of  early  bloom  varieties,  the  flowers  will  appear 
and  fructify  the  present  autumn.  Rural  Cyc.  They  re- 
quire constant  watering  to  bear  almost  constantly. 

Geum  Virginianum,  Linn.    )  . 

r,      t  .  -rTr  -,,    y      white  avens. 

"      Carolinianum,  Walt,  j 

Griffith,  Med  Bot.  279 ;  Raf.  Med.  Fl.  i,  220.  This  plant 
is  possessed  of  tonic  and  astringent  properties,  recom- 
mended by  Ives  and  Bigelow  in  dyspepsia,  and  debility  of 
the  viscera ;  employed,  also,  with  success  in  leucorrhcea 
and  chronic  hemorrhages.  It  is  not  supposed,  however,  to 
be  possessed  of  much  power;  one  drachm  of  the  powdered 
root  may  be  used,  or  a  decoction  made  by  one  ounce  to  one 
pint  of  water,  of  which  the  dose  is  one  ounce  several  times 
a  day.  In  domestic  practice,  it  is  given  in  the  shape  of  a 
weak  decoction,  as  tea. 

Agrimonia  Eupatoria,  L.  Agrimony ;  cockle  burr.  Dif- 
fused in  cultivated  lands  ;  ISTewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Parr's  Med.  Diet.  art.  A,  Sup. ;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and 
Therap.  ii,  76;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  i,  1251;  Royle,  Mat.  Med. 
602;  Hoffman's  Obs.  Phys.  Chim.  i;  Obs.  i;  Ell.  Bot.  Med. 
Notes,  i,  403,  note ;  IT.  S.  Disp.  145 ;  Ed.  and  Yav.  Mat. 
Med.  i,  281 ;  Ball  and  Gar.  Mat.  Med.  431 ;  Bergii,  Mat. 
Med.  287 ;  Mer.  and  cle  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  63;  Woodv. 
Mecl.  Bot.;  Ann.  de  Chim,  lxxxi,  332;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  18; 
Shec.  Flora  Carol.  96;  Dem.  filem  de  Bot.  i,  442.  The 
root  and  leaves,  before  the  flowers  are  produced,  are  acrid 
and  astringent,  and  are  serviceable  in  passive  hemorrhages, 
diarrhoea,  leucorrhcea,  and  gonorrhoea,  and  are  highly 
recommended  as  a  deobstruent  in  obstructions  of  the 
spleen,  and  in  diseases  arising  from  torpor  of  the  liver, 
10 


146 

as  hydrops,  icterus,  etc.  The  roots  and  leaves  have  been 
found  efficacious  in  involuntary  discharge  of  urine  (enure- 
sis). Ray's  Cat.  Plantarum ;  Am.  Herbal,  by  I.  Stearns, 
89;  Lightfoot's  Fl.  Scotica.  It  is  styptic;  it  strengthens 
the  tone  of  the  stomach,  and  it  has  been  employed  in 
chronic  diarrhoea.  The  plant,  digested  in  whey,  affords  a 
very  grateful  diet  drink.  See  Linnaeus  Veg.  M.  Med.  88. 
The  Indians  used  it  in  intermittent  fever.  Colonel  Sea- 
born, of  Pendleton  district,  S.  C,  writes  me  word  that  he 
has  known  the  plant,  boiled  in  milk,  given  successfully  in 
snake  bites,  and  injuries  arising  from  the  stings  of  spiders. 
The  dose  of  the  powder  is  one  drachm  ;  of  the  infusion  of 
six  ounces  of  root  in  one  quart  of  boiling  water,  the  dose 
is  one  ounce.  In  popular  practice,  the  leaves  are  applied 
as  a  cataplasm  to  contusions  and  fresh  wounds.  It  is  used 
by  the  steam  practitioners.  See  Howard's  Imp.  Syst.  Bot. 
Med.  284.  The  leaves  and  stalks  impart  a  beautiful  and 
permanent  gold  color  to  animal  wool,  previously  impreg- 
nated with  a  weak  solution  of  bismuth,  and  the  flowers  are 
employed  by  tanners  for  curing  soft  and  delicate  skins. 

Spiraea  trifoliata  and  siipulacea.     See  Gillenia. 

Spirma  tomentosa,  Linn.  Hardhack;  steeple-bush.  Grows 
in  the  upper  districts,  and  in  Georgia;  Newbern.  Fl. 
July. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  682 ;  Raf.  Med.  Fl.  ii,  91.  A  valuable  tonic 
and  astringent;  administered  in  diarrhoea,  cholera  infantum, 
and  other  complaints  where  medicines  of  this  class  are  in- 
dicated. Wood  says  it  is  peculiarly  adapted,  by  its  tonic 
powers,  to  cases  of  debility,  as  it  does  not  disagree  with 
the  stomach ;  but  it  should  be  avoided  during  the  exist- 
ence of  inflammatory  action  or  febrile  excitement.  It  was 
employed  by  the  Indians,  and  brought  to  the  notice  of  the 
profession  by  Br.  Cogswell,  of  Conn.  Dr.  Ives  is  of  the 
opinion  that  the  root  is  the  least  valuable  portion :  tannin, 
gallic  acid,  and  bitter  extractive  are  among  its  constituents, 
and  its  virtues  are   extracted  by  water.     Mer.  and  de  L. 


147 

Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  507.  According  to  Mead's  Thesis,  it 
is  given  with,  success  in  the  second  stages  of  dysentery  and 
diarrhoea,  having  virtues  attributed  to  it  analogous  to  those 
of  quinine.  See,  also,  Journal  Univ.  des  Sci.  Med.  xxiv, 
238,  and  Thesis  in  New  York  Med.  Repos.  (Merat,  op. 
tit.)  The  extract  is  said  to  be  fully  equal  to  catechu,  and 
might  very  well  take  its  place.  As  it  does  not  disagree 
with  the  stomach,  it  is  considered  a  very  valuable  addition 
to  the  materia  medica.  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  280.  From  five 
to  fifteen  grains  of  extract  may  be  taken,  or  two  ounces  of 
the  decoction,  prepared  by  the  addition  of  one  ounce  of 
the  plant  to  one  pint  of  water.  The  extract  is  preferable ; 
made  by  evaporating  the  decoction  of  the  stems,  leaves,  or 
root.  This  is  taken  cold,  and  repeated  several  times  dur- 
ing the  day.  Great  use  might  be  made  of  this  plant,  par- 
ticularly by  practitioners  residing  in  the  country.  In  a 
communication  from  Dr.  S.  B.  Mead,  of  Illinois,  he  in- 
forms me  that  he  has  employed  it  in  obstinate  diarrhoeas 
in  place  of  opium. 

Spiraea  opulifolia,  Linn.   Nine-bark.  Grows  along  streams. 

Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  282.  This  is  not  so  astringent  as 
the  S.  tomentosa,  though  Rafmesque  (Med.  Flora)  says  it  is 
possessed  of  similar  properties.  It  has  an  unpleasant  odor, 
which  renders  it  objectionable  as  an  internal  remedy.  It 
is,  however,  much  employed  as  an  external  application,  in 
the  form  of  fomentation,  or  as  a  cataplasm  to  ulcers  and 
tumors.  The  seeds  are  extremely  bitter,  and  are  said  to 
be  tonic. 

G-illenia  trifoliata,  Nutt.  |      Indian  physic.    Grows  in  the 
Spiraea,  Linn.  .  f  upper  districts ;    also    in    Geo. 

Fl.  July. 

Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  iii,  10  ;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  165 ;  U.  S. 
Disp.  353.  It  is  a  mild  emetic  according  to  some  writers  ; 
largely  employed  as  a  substitute  for  ipecacuanha.  Bige- 
low  thinks  it  is  not  a  certain  emetic,  but  Zollickoffer,  Bar- 
ton,  Eberle,  and  Griffith  unite  in  testifying  to  its  value; 


148 

the  latter  entirely  disproves  Baume's  unfavorable  report. 
In  small  doses,  it  acts  as  a  gentle  tonic,  especially  in  torpid 
conditions  of  the  stomach.  According  to  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  509  (see  Spircea  trifoL),  its  properties  par- 
take also  of  a  stimulating  character.  Coxe,  Am.  Disp. 
305 ;  Carson's  Illust.  Med.  Bot.  pt.  1st,  40,  1847.  Shreeves 
(Ex.  in  the  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  vii)  found  in  it  starch, 
gum,  resin,  wax,  fatty  matter,  red  coloring  matter,  and  a 
peculiar  principle,  soluble  in  alcohol  and  dilute  acids,  but 
insoluble  in  water  and  ether.  According  to  the  statement 
of  Dr.  Staples,  it  contains  no  emetine.  It  may  be  con- 
veniently given  as  an  emetic,  by  boiling  the  root  and  giv- 
ing one  or  two  ounces  of  the  decoction  at  a  dose  till 
vomiting  is  induced.  "  The  tincture  of  the  root  is  an  in- 
fallible remedy  for  milk  sickness."  Cherokee  Doctor.  The 
dose  of  the  powdered  root  is  thirty  grains,  persisted  in  till 
vomiting  takes  place  ;  two  to  four  grains  act  as  a  tonic, 
and  sometimes  as  a  sudorific.  The  infusion  will  occasion- 
ally produce  hyperemesis  and  catharsis.  Lind.  Nat.  Syst. 
144 ;  Frost's  Elems.  80 ;  Inaug.  Diss,  of  Dr.  De  La  Motta, 
of  Charleston,  published  in  Philadelphia ;  Schoepf,  M. 
Med.  80;  Bart.  M.  Med.  26;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  283; 
Griffith,  in  Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  iv,  177. 

Glllenia  stipulacea,  Nutt.  1      Grows  on  the  Saluda  moun- 

Spircea  of  Mich.  J  tains.    Fl.  July. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  144.  It  is  emetic,  and  probably 
tonic,  and  is  possessed  of  properties  similar  to  those  of  the 
S.  trifoL,  though  it  is  said  to  be  more  certain  in  its  effects, 
and  not  to  have  been  deteriorated  by  cultivation.  U.  S. 
Disp.  353;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  284. 

Oratcegus  crus  galli.     Grows  in  swamps. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  460.  Dr.  Darlington 
regards  it  as  one  of  the  best  thorn  plants  for  hedges ; 
it  is  much  used  in  Delaware.  Fl.  Cestrica.  It  is  better 
than  the  Washington  thorn,  C.  cordata. 


149 

Pyrus  coronaria,  Linn.    Crab-apple.    Newbern.    Fl.  May. 

It  is  not  employed  medicinally.  The  fruit  is  very  acid  to 
the  taste,  and  is  often  made  into  preserves.  The  bark, 
with  that  of  the  white  hickory,  gives  a  yellow  dye.  Alum 
must  be  used  as  a  mordant.  The  yarn  should  first  be 
boiled  with  soap  and  water,  then  wrung  out,  and  boiled  in 
the  preparation. 

Pyrus  mains.  Cultivated.  The  apple,  pear  (P.  com- 
munis), and  quince  (P.  cydonia),  grow  very  well  in  the 
Confederate  States.  The  pulp  surrounding  the  seeds  of  the 
latter  is  often  dissolved  in  water,  and  used  as  a  mucilage. 
See  authors. 

Perry  from  pears  is  made  very  much  like  cider.  Hitt's 
method  of  keeping  pears  and  apples  is  described  by  Wilson 
in  his  Rural  Cyc.  Art.  "Fruit  storing."  Having  prepared 
a  number  of  earthenware  jars,  and  a  quantity  of  dry  moss 
(different  species  of  hypnum  and  sphagnum),  he  placed  a 
layer  of  moss  and  of  pears  alternately,  till  the  jar  was 
filled ;  a  plug  was  then  inserted,  and  sealed  around  with 
melted  rosin.  These  jars  were  sunk  in  dry  sand  to  the 
depth  of  a  foot — preferring  a  deep  cellar  for  keeping  them 
to  any  fruit  room.  Millar's  plan  is  also  described.  After 
sweating  and  wiping,  in  which  operation  great  care  must 
be  taken  not  to  bruise  the  fruit,  the  pears  are  packed  in 
close  baskets,  having  some  wheat  straw  in  the  bottom  and 
around  the  sides,  to  prevent  bruising,  and  a  lining  of  thick, 
soft  paper,  to  hinder  the  musty  flavor  of  the  straw  from 
infecting  the  fruit.  Only  one  kind  of  fruit  is  put  in  each 
basket.  A  covering  of  paper  and  straw  is  fixed  on  the  top, 
and  the  basket  is  then  deposited  in  a  dry  room,  secure 
against  the  access  of  frost ;  and  the.  less  air  is  let  into  the 
room  the  better  the  fruit  will  keep.  Some  preserve  apples 
and  pears  in  glazed  earthenware  jars,  with  tops,  by  placing 
dried  sand  between  each  layer  of  fruit — the  jars  to  be  kept 
in  a  dry,  airy  situation,  secure  from  frost. 

The  gum  exuding  from  the  apricot  tree  dissolved  in 
water  acts  as  a  substitute  for  gum  arable,  as  an  adhesive 


150 

agent ;  see,  also,  Bletia  aphylla.  I  find  that  from  the  wild 
orange,  in  boiling  water,  acts  admirably  as  a  glue  for 
paper.  The  wood  of  the  pear  and  apple  is  very  hard,  and 
will  probably  supply  some  of  our  best  material  for  wood 
engraving;  see  Amelanchier,  with  which  it  is  closely  related. 
The  pear  and  apple  are  employed  to  make  wooden  type  for 
mammoth  letters.  The  apple  is  the  best  material  for  plane 
stocks,  as  it  becomes  harder  and  more  polished  the  more  it 
is  used.  A  species  of  wine  is  made  from  apple  cider  by 
adding  sugar  and  alcohol.  Cider  may  be  kept  by  digging 
under  ground  dry  cellars,  and  covering  from  the  sun. 
Vinegar  made  from  cider  is  of  the  best  quality.  It  is 
easily  made  in  a  warm  place  by  adding  a  little  mother  of 
vinegar  to  the  sour  cider  in  a  barrel.  It  is  ready  for  use  in 
a  few  weeks.  The  strength  and  purity  of  vinegar,  as  de- 
termined by  the  framers  of  the  United  States  Pharmaco- 
poeia, is  as  follows :  "  One  fiuidounce  is  saturated  by  about 
thirty  grains  of  crystallized  bicarb,  of  potassa.  It  affords 
no  precipitate  with  solution  of  chloride  of  barium,  and  is 
not  colored  by  sulphohydric  acid." 

The  bug,  or  plant  louse,  which  in  the  shape  of  a  hoary 
covering  destroys  the  apple  tree,  is  generally  an  aphis  or  an 
eriosoma ;  see  Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopaedia,  a  full  account; 
also,  papers  on  the  "Insects  destructive  to  Trees,"  in 
Pateut  Office  Report  on  Agriculture.  In  these  the  reme- 
dies are  given.  "  The  best  of  the  methods,  as  to  at  once 
cheapness,  cleanliness,  and  efficiency,  are  syringing  with 
soap  suds  and  tobacco  water,  minutely  brushing  with  spirits 
of  turpentine,  brushing  with  a  mixture  of  soap  lees  and 
one  of  oil  of  turpentine,  and  brushing  with  brown,  impure, 
pyroligneous  acid."  Wilson,  See  "peach,"  "pear,"  mode 
of  keeping,  etc.  Planting  apricots  near  by  will  divert  the 
insects  to  their  fruit.  Turning  hogs  in  orchards,  which 
consume  the  fallen  fruit,  is  one  of  the  best  means  of 
destroying  the  larvse,  which  produce  the  fly  of  the  next 
season. 

Good  cider  is  deemed  a  pleasant,  wholesome  liquor  dur- 
ing the  heats  of  summer;  and  Mr.  Knight  has  asserted, 


151 

and  also  eminent  medical  men,  that  strong;,  astringent 
ciders  have  been  found  to  produce  nearly  the  same  effect 
in  cases  of  putrid  fever  as  Port  wine. 

The  unfermented  juice  of  the  apple  consists  of  water 
and  a  peculiar  acid  called  the  malic  acid,  combined  with  the 
saccharine  principle.  Where  a  just  proportion  of  the  latter 
is  wanting,  the  liquor  will  be  poor  and  watery,  without 
body,  very  difficult  to  preserve  and  manage.  In  the  process 
of  fermentation,  the  saccharine  principle  is  in  part  con- 
verted to  alcohol.  Where  the  proportion  of  the  saccharine 
principle  is  wanting,  the  deficiency  must  be  supplied  either 
by  the  addition  of  a  saccharine  substance  before  fermenta- 
tion, or  by  the  addition  of  alcohol  after  fermentation  ;  for 
every  one  must  know  that  all  good  wine  or  cider  contains 
it,  elaborated  by  fermentation,  either  in  the  cask  or  in  the 
reservoirs  at  the  distillery.  The  best  and  cheapest  kind  is 
the  neutral  spirit — -a  highly  rectified  and  tasteless  spirit, 
obtained  from  New  England  rum.  Some,  however,  object 
to  any  addition  of  either  sugar  or  alcohol  to  supply  defi- 
ciencies, forgetful  that  these  substances  are  the  very 
elements  of  which  all  wine,  cider,  and  vinous  liquors  are 
composed. 

The  strength  of  the  cider  depends  on  the  specific  gravity 
of  the  juice  on  expression :  this  may  be  easily  ascertained 
by  weighing,  or  by  the  hydrometer. 

Newark,  in  New  Jersey,  is  reputed  one  of  the  most 
famous  places  in  America  for  its  cider.  The  cider  apple 
most  celebrated  there  is  the  Harrison  apple,  a  native  fruit; 
and  cider  made  from  this  fruit,  when  fined  and  fit  for 
bottling,  frequently  brings  ten  dollars  per  barrel,  according 
to  Mr.  Coxe.  This  and  the  Hughs'  Virginia  Crab  are  the 
two  most  celebrated  cider  apples  of  America.  Old  trees, 
growing  in  dry  soils,  produce,  it  is  said,  the  best  cider.  A 
good  cider  apple  is  saccharine  and  astringent. 

To  make  good  cider,  the  first  requisite  is  suitable  fruit; 
it  is  equally  necessary  that  the  fruit  should  be  not  merely 
mellow,  but  thoroughly  mature,  rotten  apples  being  excluded ; 
and  ripe,  if  possible,  at  the  suitable  period,  or  about  the 


152 

first  of  ISTovernber,  or  from  the  first  to  the  middle,  after  the 
excessive  heat  of  the  season  is  past,  and  while  sufficient 
warmth  yet  remains  to  enable  the  fermentation  to  progress 
si  owl}-,  as  it  ought. 

The  fruit  should  be  gathered  by  hand,  or  shaken  from 
the  tree  in  dry  weather,  when  it  is  at  perfect  maturity ;  and 
the  ground  should  be  covered  with  coarse  cloths  or  Russia 
mats  beneath,  to  prevent  bruising,  and  consequent  rotten- 
ness, before  the  grinding  commences.  Unripe  fruit  should 
be  laid  in  large  masses,  protected  from  dews  and  rain,  to 
sweat  and  hurry  on  its  maturity,  when  the  suitable  time 
for  making  approaches.  The  earlier  fruits  should  be  laid 
in  thin  layers  on  stagings,  to  preserve  them  to  the  suitable 
period  for  making,  protected  alike  from  rain  and  dews,  and 
where  they  may  be  benefited  by  currents  of  cool,  dry  air. 
Each  variety  should  be  kept  separate,  that  those  ripening 
at  the  same  period  should  be  ground  together. 

In  grinding,  the  most  perfect  machinery  should  be  used 
to  reduce  the  whole  fruit,  skin,  and  seeds,  to  a  fine  pulp. 
This  should,  if  possible,  be  performed  in  cool  weather. 
The  late  Joseph  Cooper,  of  Xew  Jersey,  has  observed  em- 
phatically, that  "the  longer  a  cheese  lies  after  being  ground, 
before  pressing,  the  better  for  the  cider,  provided  it  escapes  fer- 
mentation until  the  pressing  is  completed;"  and  he  further 
observes,  "  that  a  sour  apple,  after  being  bruised  on  one 
side,  becomes  rich  and  sweet  after  it  has  changed  to  a 
brown  color,  while  it  yet  retains  its  acid  taste  on  the  oppo- 
site side."  When  the  pomace  united  to  the  juice  is  thus 
suffered  for  a  time  to  remain,  it  undergoes  a  chemical 
change ;  the  saccharine  principle  is  developed ;  it  will  be 
found  rich  and  sweet.  Sugar  is  in  this  case  produced  by 
the  prolonged  union  of  the  bruised  pulp  and  juice,  which 
could  never  have  been  formed  in  that  quantity  had  they 
been  sooner  separated. 

Mr.  Jonathan  Rice,  of  Marlborough,  who  made  the  pre- 
mium cider  so  much  admired  at  Concord,  Massachusetts, 
appears  so  sensible  of  the  important  effects  of  mature  or 
fully  ripe  fruit,  that,  provided  this  is  the  case,  he  is  willing 


153 

even  to  forego  the  disadvantage  of  having  a  portion  of 
it  quite  rotten.  Let  me  observe,  that  this  rottenness 
must  be  the  effect,  in  part,  of  bruises  by  improper  modes 
of  gathering,  or  by  improper  mixtures  of  ripe  and  unripe 
fruit.  He  always  chooses  cool  weather  for  the  operation  of 
grinding;  and,  instead  of  suffering  the  pomace  to  remain 
but  twenty-four  hours  or  forty-eight  hours  at  most  before 
pressing,  as  others  have  directed,  he  suffers  it  to  remain 
from  a  week  to  ten  days,  provided  the  weather  will  admit, 
stirring  the  mass  daily  till  it  is  put  to  the  press.  See  his 
communication  in  vol.  vii,  p.  123,  1ST.  E.  Farmer. 

The  first  fermentation  in  cider  is  termed  the  vinous  ;  in 
this  the  sugar  is  decomposed,  and  loses  its  sweetness,  and 
is  converted  into  alcohol ;  if  the  fermentation  goes  on  too 
rapidly,  the  cider  is  injured  ;  a  portion  of  alcohol  passes  off" 
with  the  carbonic  acid. 

The  design  of  frequent  raokings  is  principally  to  restrain 
the  fermentation  ;  but  it  seems  to  be  generally  acknowl- 
edged that  it  weakens  the  liquor.  It  is  not  generally  prac- 
tised, although  the  finest  cider  is  often  produced  by  this 
mode.  Various  other  modes  are  adopted  with  the  view  of 
restraining  fermentation  —  one  of  which  is  the  following: 
After  a  few  gallons  of  cider  are  poured  into  the  hogshead 
into  which  the  cider  is  to  be  placed  when  racked  off",  a  rag 
six  inches  long,  previously  dipped  in  melted  brimstone,  is 
attached  by  a  wire  to  a  very  long,  tapering  bung;  on  the 
match  being  lighted,  the  bung  is  loosely  inserted ;  after 
this  is  consumed,  the  cask  is  rolled  or  tumbled  till  the 
liquor  has  imbibed  the  gas,  and  then  filled  with  the  liquid. 
This  checks  the  fermentation ;  yet  the  French  writers 
assure  us  that  the  effect  of  much  sulphuring  must  necessa- 
rily render  such  liquors  unwholesome. 

Black  oxide  of  manganese  has  a  similar  effect;  the  crude 
oxide  is  rendered  friable  by  being  repeatedly  heated  red  hot, 
and  as  often  suddenly  cooled  by  immersion  in  cold  water. 
When  finely  pulverized,  it  is  exposed  for  a  while  to  the 
atmosphere,  till  it  has  imbibed  again  the  oxygen  which 
had  been  expelled  by  fire.     An  ounce  of  powder  is  deemed 


154 

sufficient  for  a  barrel.  If  the  cider  is  desired  to  be  very 
sweet,  it  must  be  added  before  fermentation,  otherwise  not 
till  afterward.  Mr.  Knight,  from  his  long  experience  and 
observation  in  a  country  (Herefordshire,  England)  famous 
for  its  cider,  has  lately,  in  a  letter  to  the  Hon.  John  Lowell, 
stated  that  the  acetous  fermentation  generally  takes  place 
during  the  progress  of  the  vinous,  and  that  the  liquor  from 
the  commencement  is  imbibing  oxygen  at  its  surface.  He 
highly  recommends  that  new  charcoal,  in  a  finely  pulver- 
ized state,  be  added  to  the  liquor  as  it  comes  from  the 
press,  in  the  proportion  of  eight  pounds  to  the  hogshead, 
to  be  intimately  incorporated ;  "this  makes  the  liquor  at 
first  as  black  as  ink,  but  it  finally  becomes  remarkably 
fine." 

Dr.  Darwin  has  recommended  that  the  liquor,  as  soon  as 
the  pulp  has  risen,  should  be  placed  in  a  cool  situation,  in 
casks  of  remarkable  strength,  and  the  liquor  closely  con- 
fined from  the  beginning.  The  experiment  has  been  tried 
with  good  success ;  the  fermentation  goes  on  slowly,  and 
an  excellent  cider  is  generally  the  result. 

A  handful  of  well  powdered  clay  to  a  barrel  is  said  to 
check  the  fermentation.  This  is  stated  by  Dr.  Mease. 
And  with  the  view  of  preventing  the  escape  of  the  car- 
bonic acid,  and  to  prevent  the  liquid  from  imbibing  oxygen 
from  the  atmosphere,  a  pint  of  olive  oil  has  been  recom- 
mended to  each  hogshead.  The  excellent  cider  exhibited 
by  Mr.  Rice  was  prepared  by  adding  two  gallons  of  New 
England  rum  to  each  barrel  when  first  made.  In  Febru- 
ary or  March  it  was  racked  oft*  in  clear  weather,  and  two 
quarts  more  of  New  England  rum  added  to  each  barrel. 
Cider  well  fermented  may  be  frozen  down  to  any  requisite 
degree  of  strength.  In  freezing  the  watery  parts  are  sep- 
arated, and  freeze  first,  and  the  stronger  parts  are  drawn 
oft'  from  the.  centre.  I  fiuish  by  adding  the  following- 
general  rules — they  will  answer  for  all  general  purposes; 
they  are  the  conclusions  from  what  is  previously  stated: 
1.  Gather  the  fruit  according  to  the  foregoing  rules ;  let  it 
be  thoroughly  ripe  when  ground,  'which  should  be  about  the 


155 

middle  of  November.  2.  Let  the  pomace  remain  from  two 
to  four  days,  according  to  the  state  of  the  weather,  stirring 
it  every  day  till  it  is  put  to  the  press.  3.  If  the  liquor  is 
deficient  in  the  saccharine  principle,  the  defect  may  be 
remedied  in  the  beginning  by  the  addition  of  saccharine 
substances  or'  alcohol.  4.  Let  the  liquor  be  immediately 
placed  in  a  cool  cellar,  in  remarkably  strong,  tight,  sweet 
casks ;  after  the  pulp  has  all  overflown,  confine  the  liquor 
down  by  driving  the  bung  hard,  and  by  sealing;  a  vent 
must  be  left,  and  the  spile  carefully  drawn  at  times,  but 
only  when  absolutely  necessary  to  prevent  the  cask  from 
bursting.  The  charcoal,  as  recommended  by  Mr.  Knight, 
deserves  trial. 

Fresh  and  sweet  pomace,  directly  from  the  press,  and 
boiled  or  steamed,  and  mixed  with  a  small  portion  of  meal, 
is  a  valuable  article  of  food,  or  for  fattening  horses,  cattle, 
and  swine. 

Sour  casks  are  purified  by  pouring  in  a  small  quantity  of 
hot  water,  and  adding  unslacked  lime ;  bung  up  the  cask, 
and  continue  shaking  it  till  the  lime  is  slacked.  Soda  and 
chloride  of  lime  are  good  for  purifying.  When  casks  are 
emptied  to  be  laid  by,  let  them  be  thoroughly  rinsed  with 
water  and  drained,  then  pour,  into  each  a  pint  of  cheap 
alcohol,  shake  the  cask  and  bung  it  tight,  and  it  will 
remain  sweet  for  years.  Musty  casks  should  be  con- 
demned to  other  uses.  Cider  should  not  be  bottled  till 
perfectly  fine,  otherwise  it  may  burst  the  bottles.  The  bot- 
tles should  be  strong,  and  filled  to  the  bottom  of  the  neck. 
After  standing  an  hour,  they  should  be  corked  with  velvet 
corks.  The  lower  end  of  the  cork  is  held  for  an  instant  in 
hot  water,  and  it  is  then  instantly  after  driven  down  with  a 
mallet.  The  bottles  must  be  either  sealed  or  laid  on  their 
sides  in  boxes,  or  in  the  bottom  of  a  cellar,  and  covered 
with  layers  of  sand. 

Most  of  the  above  information  relative  to  cider  making 
is  derived  from  the  American  Orohardist,  by  W.  Kenrick, 
of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  whose  list  of  apple  and  other 
nursery  trees  comprehends  almost  every  kind  desirable  for 
any  purpose. 


156 

The  reader  will  find  very  explicit  instructions  for  the 
manufacture  of  cider  in  the  Penny  Cyclopasdia,  vol.  vii,  p. 
161 ;  in  the  Lib.  of  Useful  Know.  ;  British  Husb.  vol.  ii, 
p.  364 ;  Low's  Pract.  Agr.  p.  379 ;  Croker,  On  the  Art  of 
Making  and  Managing  Cider;  in  the  Quart.  Journal  of 
Agr.  vol.  viii,  p.  332,  by  Mr.  Towers ;  and  in  Baxter's  Agr. 
Lib.  p.  135,  by  Andrew  Crosse,  Esq.,  of  Somerset.  The 
following  instructions  for  making  cider  are  by  a  Devon- 
shire lady :  Gather  the  fruit  when  ripe ;  let  it  remain  in 
a  heap  till  the  apples  begin  to  get  damp,  then  grind  them 
in  a  mill  (similar  to  a  malt  mill) ;  take  the  pulp  and  put  it 
into  a  large  press  like  a  cheese  press,  only  on  a  much  larger 
scale ;  place  a  layer  of  reed  in  the  bottom  of  the  vat  and  a 
krver  of  pulp  alternately  until  the  vat  is  full.  The  vat  is 
square,  and  the  ends  of  the  reed  must  be  allowed  to  turn 
over  every  la}-er  of  pulp,  so  as  to  keep  it  from  being  pressed 
out  at  the  sides.  The  layers  of  pulp  must  be  five  or  six 
inches  thick.  When  you  have  finished  making  your  cheese, 
press  it  as  hard  as  you  can,  and  let  it  remain  three  or  four 
hours ;  then  cut  down  the  corners  of  it,  and  lay  them  on 
•  the  top  with  reed  as  before ;  then  press  it  again,  and  allow 
it  to  remain  for  another  three  or  four  hours.  Repeat  this 
process  as  long  as  necessary,  or  until  the  cheese  is  quite 
dry.  It  takes  seven  bags  of  apples  for  one  hogshead  of 
cider,  and  the  vat  ought  to  be  large  enough  to  make  from 
three  to  four  hogsheads  at  a  time.  The  best  sort  of  apple  to 
make  mild  cider  is  the  hard  bitter-sweet.  Any  sort  of  sour 
apple  will  do  to  make  the  harsh  cider.  The  liquor  must 
be  strained  through  a  fine  sieve  into  a  large  vessel,  and 
allowed  to  ferment  for  three  or  four  days,  taking  off'  the 
scum  as  it  rises ;  then  rack  it,  and  put  it  into  casks  stopped 
down  quite  close.  Before  the  cider  is  put  into  the  cask, 
a  match  made  of  new  linen,  and  attached  to  a  wire,  is 
lighted  and  put  into  the  cask,  and  the  bung  is  put  in  to 
keep  the  wire  from  falling  into  it.  After  a  few  minutes 
the  match  is  removed,  and  the  cider  poured  into  the  cask 
while  yet  full  of  the  smoke. 

A  person  would  require  three  or  four  years  experience 


157 

before  lie  would  be  qualified  to  superintend  the  making 
of  sweet  or  made  cider.  Much  depends  on  the  year,  or 
rather  on  the  ripening  of  the  apples;  it  should  be  the 
second,  not  the  first  falling ;  and  the  "green  bitter-sweet," 
and  the  "  pocket-apple,"  are  the  best  for  making  it.  After 
pounding,  isinglass  and  brimstone  are  used  to  sweeten  and 
fine  it,  and  many  other  ingredients. 

The  sweet  cider,  above  described,  is  distinct  from  the 
other  two  kinds  of  cider  (the  harsh  and  mild).  Cider, 
according  to  Brande,  contains  about  H97  parts  per  cent,  of 
alcohol.  It  is  a  wholesome  beverage  for  those  who  use 
much  bodily  exercise.  Willich's  Dom.  Erie. ;  McCulloch's 
Com.  Diet. 

Under  this  genus,  I  insert  the  following  from  Chaptal's 
Chemistry  Applied  to  Agriculture,  as  the  subject  of  the 
manufacture  of  Liquors  from  fruits,  grain,  etc.,  is  important 
in  the  present  exigency:  "  Grood  water  is  undoubtedly  the 
most  wholesome  drink ;  but  man  has  almost  everywhere 
contracted  the  habit  of  using  fermented  liquors,  and  this 
habit  has  created  in  him  a  want  of  them;  so  that  if  he  be 
deprived  of  their  use,  he  loses  his  strength  and  energy,  and 
becomes  less  able  to  work.  The  best  fermented  drink  is 
wine ;  but  excepting  the  wine  countries,  where  the  low 
price  of  ordinary  wine  renders  the  use  of  it  common,  the 
laborer  has  seldom  the  means  of  procuring  it  daily.  It  is, 
therefore,  necessary  that  its  place  should  elsewhere  be 
supplied  by  such  other  liquors  as  will  produce  nearly  the 
same  effect,  and  this  is  done  by  the  fermentation  of  grains, 
fruits,  milk,  the  sap  of  trees,  etc.,  from  the  product  of 
which  there  is  formed  in  Europe  a  great  variety  of  liquors; 
some  of  these  have  become  very  important  articles  of  con- 
sumption and  of  commerce.  The  peasants,  in  the  greater 
part  of  our  districts,  have  acquired  the  habit  of  preparing 
their  liquors  from  the  fermentation  of  most  of  these  sub- 
stances ;  and  as  the  only  object  I  have  in  view  is  to  furnish 
information  in  regard  to  extending  and  perfecting  these 
processes,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  pointing  out  such 
methods  as  are  easily  executed,  and  which  require  the  em- 


158 

ployment  of  such  substances  only  as  are  everywhere  in  the 
hands  of  the  agriculturist : 

"All  mucilaginous  fruits,  all  fleshy  stone  fruits,  excepting 
those  which  yield  oil,  all  grains  which  contain  gluten, 
sugar,  or  starch,  are  capable  of  undergoing  the  spiritous  or 
alcoholic  fermentation. 

"  The  expressed  juice  of  saccharine  fruits  may  be  made  to 
ferment  by  exposure  to  a  sufficient  degree  of  heat.  The 
method  most  commonly  pursued  is  that  of  crushing  or 
grinding  the  fruits,  and  thus  fermenting  the  pulp  with 
the  juice ;  in  this  manner  are  treated  apples,  pears,  grapes, 
cherries,  etc. 

"For  such  fruits  as  are  not  very  juicy,  but  contain,  how- 
ever, some  sugar  and  mucilage,  and  for  such  as  can  be 
made  to  keep  better  by  being  dried,  some  water  is  em- 
ployed to  mix  and  dissolve  the  fermentable  principles.  In 
this  class  of  fruits  may  be  placed  those  of  the  service  tree, 
the  cornelian  cherry,  the  medlar,  the  mulberry,  the  privet, 
the  juniper,  the  Neapolitan  medlar,  the  thorn  apple,  the 
wild  plum,  etc.,  and  with  them  the  dried  fruits  of  the  plum 
and  fig  tree,  and  some  of  the  other  trees  and  shrubs  before 
mentioned. 

"To  produce  the  development  of  the  saccharine  principle 
in  bread  corns  by  germination,  they  must  be  moistened 
with  water ;  the  spiritous  fermentation  is  afterward  ex- 
cited in  them  by  immersing  them  in  water  containing  the 
yeast  of  beer,  or  leaven  made  of  wheat  flour.  The  opera- 
tion of  germination  may  even  be  suppressed  b}r  mixing  the 
meal  with  a  portion  of  leaven  and  of  lukewarm  water. 
This  dough  may  be  allowed  to  ferment  for  twenty-four 
hours,  and  may  then  be  gradually  diluted  with  water; 
fermentation  will  take  place  in  a  few  hours,  and  will 
go  on  regularly  during  two  or  three  days.  As  directions 
for  the  manufacture  of  cider,  perry,  and  beer  for  general 
consumption  are  much  less  necessary  here  than  those 
for  procuring  for  farmers  (or  soldiers,  I  add,)  wholesome 
liquors  at  a  trifling  expense,  I  shall  confine  my  obser- 
vations  to  this  object.      Grapes  furnish   the   best   liquor, 


159 

and  that  in  the  greatest  quantity  ;  but  when  this  is 
drunk  clear,  it  serves  but  little  purpose  for  quenching 
thirst ;  when  made  use  of  in  large  quantities,  it  impairs 
the  strength.  The  liquor  called  piquette,  which  is  manu- 
factured by  our  farmers,  supplies  advantageously  the  place 
of  wine,  serving  as  a  tonic,  and  at  the  same  time  quench- 
ing thirst.  Piquette  is  made  from  the  pressed  and  fer- 
mented mash  of  red  grapes,  by  means  of  water  filtrated 
through  it  till  it  acquires,  in  some  degree,  the  color  and 
appearance  of  wine ;  it  is,  even  in  this  state,  a  better 
drink  than  water,  inasmuch  as  it  is  slightly  tonic;  its  good 
qualities  may,  however,  be  much  increased  by  fermentation. 
Piquette  can  be  kept  but  a  short  time  unchanged,  and, 
from  this  tendency  to  sour,  it  is  necessary  that  it  should  be 
made  only  in  such  quantities  as  are  immediately  wanted, 
and  that  the  manufacture  of  it  should  be  continued  at  in- 
tervals throughout  the  year.  For  this  purpose  the  pressed 
mash  of  red  grapes  is  put  into  a  cask,  care  being  taken  to 
crowd  it  in  till  the  cask  is  completely  full,  after  which  it  is 
hermetically  closed,  so  as  to  exclude  air  and  moisture,  and 
set  in  a  cool,  dry  place.  When  the  piquette  is  to  be  pre- 
pared for  use,  the  head  is  taken  out  of  the  cask,  and  water 
is  thrown  upon  the  mash  until  the  whole  mass  is  moistened 
with  it,  and  the  water  stands  upon  the  top  ;  fermentation 
soon  takes  place,  as  becomes  evident  by  the  light  foam 
which  arises;  it  is  completed  by  the  end  of  the  fourth  or 
fifth  day ;  from  this  time  the  liquor  may  be  drawn  -off  for 
daily  use — the  place  of  the  portion  removed  being  sup- 
plied by  an  equal  quantity  of  water  thrown  in  upon  the  top 
of  the  mash.  In  this  manner  a  cask  of  mash,  of  the  capac- 
ity of  sixty-six  gallons,  may  furnish  about  four  gallons  of 
drink  per  diem,  and  will  continue  to  yield  it  for  about 
twenty  days. 

"As  the  mash  of  white  grapes  cannot  be  made  to  ferment 
with  the  juice,  this  last  is  separated  and  put  into  casks  to 
ferment  by  itself,  and  the  piquette  is  then  made  by  adding 
to  the  mash  the  necessary  quantity  of  water.  This  liquor 
is  more  spiritous  than  that  made  from   red  grapes,    and 


160 

keeps  better;  it  is  therefore  reserved  for  use  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  summer.  If  instead  of  throwing  pure 
water  upon  the  mash  as  is  everywhere  done,  this  liquid 
should  first  be  slightly  sweetened  and  heated,  and  then  re- 
ceive the  addition  of  a  little  yeast,  piquette  of  a  very  superior 
quality  would  be  obtained.  In  the  absence  of  yeast  or 
leaven,  the  scum  which  arises  upon  wine,  especially  white 
wine,  during  fermentation,  may  be  used  for  the  same  pur- 
pose ;  this  foam  or  scum  may  be  dried,  and  thus  preserved 
for  use  without  undergoing  any  change. 

"  Well  made  piquette  is  a  very  wholesome  drink  for  coun- 
try people,  for  its  tonic  properties,  as  well  as  its  power  of 
quenching  thirst;  it  is  far  preferable,  as  a  daily  drink,  to 
wine;  but  this  resource  is  only  local,  as  in  most  countries 
that  are  most  fruitful  in  grapes,  if  the  harvest  fall  short, 
there  can  be  but  little  piquette  made;  it  is  necessary  then  to 
be  able  to  supply  its  place  from  some  other  source,  and 
this  is  done  by  the  fermentation  of  certain  fruits. 

"Apples  and  pears,  as  being  the  fruits  that  are  most 
abundantly  produced,  are  the  most  variable  for  the  pur- 
pose of  manufacturing  liquors.  A  mixture  of  the  two 
produces  a  more  wholesome  article  of  drink  than  does 
either  treated  separately.  The  juices  of  plums  and  other 
fruits  may  likewise  be  added,  as  their  astringency  renders 
the  liquor  more  tonic.  Excellent  liquor  may  be  produced, 
both  from  apples  and  pears,  by  following  the  well  known 
method  of  making  cider,  which  consists  in  grinding  the 
fruit  with  a  millstone,  and  fermenting  the  pulp  and  juice 
together;  but  upon  farms,  where  we  seldom  find  the 
means  of  preserving  liquors  unchanged,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  processes  be  simple,  and  such  as  can  be  made  use 
of  for  preparing  them  as  they  are  needed.  I  shall,  there- 
fore, recommend  the  following  method:  Begin  to  collect 
the  apples  and  pears  which  fall  from  the  trees  toward  the 
end  of  August,  and  continue  to  do  so  till  they  have  arrived 
at  maturity ;  cut  them  in  pieces  as  fast  as  they  are  gathered ; 
dry  them  first  in  the  sun,  and  afterward  in  an  oven 
from  which  the  bread  has  been  drawn.     If  the  fruit  be  well 


161 

dried  in  this  manner,  though  it  may  grow  dark  colored,  it 
ma}'  be  kept  unchanged  for  several  years.  When  drink  is 
to  be  prepared  from  these  dried  fruits,  put  about  sixty 
pounds  of  them  into  a  cask,  which  will  contain  sixty-six 
gallons;  fill  the  cask  with  water,  and  allow  it  to  remain 
four  or  five  days  ;  after  which,  draw  off  the  fermented 
liquor  for  use.  The  liquor  thus  prepared  is  very  agreeable 
to  the  taste;  when  put  into  bottles  it  ferments  so  as  to  throw 
out  the  cork  as  frothing  Champagne  wine  does.  Though 
wholesome  and  agreeable,  it  may  become  still  more  con- 
ducive to  health  by  mixing  with  the  apples  and  pears  one- 
twentieth  of  the  dried  berries  of  the  service  tree  Amelanchier 
canadensis  (Aronia  botryapium,  Ell.  8k.,  which  grows  in  Caro- 
lina), and  one-thirtieth  of  juniper  berries  ;  from  these  the 
liquor  acquires  a  slightly  bitter  taste,  and  the  flavor  of  the 
juniper  berries,  which  is  very  refreshing,  and  it  is  besides 
rendered  tonic  and  antiputrescent.  The  use  of  this  drink 
is  one  of  the  surest  means  that  can  be  taken  by  the  hus- 
bandman for  preserving  himself  from  those  diseases  to 
which  he  is  liable  in  autumn,  and  for  the  attacks  of 
which  he  is  preparing  the  way  during  the  greatest  heats  of 
summer. 

"After  the  spiritous  portions  of  the  liquor  have  been 
drawn  off,  very  agreeable  piquette  may  be  made  from  the 
pulp  which  remains  in  the  cask;  for  this  purpose  it  is  only 
necessary  to  crush  the  fruit,  which  is  already  soft,  and  to 
add  to  it  as  much  lukewarm  water,  to  which  a  small  quan- 
tity of  yeast  has  been  added,  as  will  fill  the  cask,  fermenta- 
tion commencing  in  a  short  time,  and  terminating  in  three 
or  four  days.  To  flavor  this  liquor  and  render  it  slightly 
tonic,  there  may  be  added  to  it  before  fermentation  a 
handful  of  vervain,  three  or  four  pounds  of  elder  berries, 
and  of  juniper  berries. 

"  Cherries,  and  particularly  the  small  bitter  cherries,  when 
ground  and  afterward  fermented  in  a  cask,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  mash  of  grapes,  and  then  pressed  to  separate 
the  juice  from  the  pulp,  furnish  a  liquor  containing  much 
spirit.  The  wine  made  from  cherries,  when  distilled,  af- 
11 


162 

fords  an  excellent  liquor,  which,  although  not  exactly  the 
same  as  the  good  Kirschwasser  of  the  Black  Forest,  is  yet 
a  valuable  drink,  and  is  sold  in  commerce  under  the  same 
name. 

"The  berries  of  the  service  tree,  dried  in  an  oven,  and  put 
into  a  cask  in  the  proportion  of  about  sixteen  or  eighteen 
pounds  of  fruit  to  twenty-six  and  a  half  gallons  of  water, 
furnish,  after  four  or  five  days  fermentation,  a  very  good 
drink.  Plums  and  figs,  dried  either  by  the  sun  or  in  an 
oven,  may  be  made  use  of  for  the  same  purpose.  In  order 
to  render  the  liquor  more  wholesome,  or  more  agreeable, 
several  kinds  may  be  mixed  together,  and  thus  the  defects 
of  one  kind  may  be  compensated  for  by  the  good  qualities 
of  the  other.  A  few  handful s  of  the  red  fruit  of  the  bird- 
catcher  service  tree  counteract  the  flat,  sweetish  taste  of 
certain  other  fruits. 

"In  our  farming  districts  the  berries  of  the  juniper  are 
carefully  collected  and  fermented,  in  the  proportion  of 
about  thirty  pounds  of  berries  to  thirty-eight  and  a  half 
gallons  of  water.  The  drink  procured  from  these  is  one 
of  the  most  wholesome  jDossible,  but  it  requires  a,  little  use 
to  reconcile  one  to  the  odor  and  flavor  of  it;  those,  how- 
ever, who  drink  it,  prefer  it  after  a  short  time  to  any  other 
liquor.  The  juice  of  the  juniper  contributes  so  much  to 
health  that  I  cannot  too  strongly  recommend  its  being 
mixed,  in  greater  or  less  quantities,  with  all  fruits  which 
are  to  be  subjected  to  fermentation  ;  its  flavor  alone  will 
disguise  the  taste  of  such  liquors  as,  without  being  un- 
wholesome, are  flat,  sickish,  or  otherwise  unpleasant. 
Count  Chaptal  probably  refers  here  to  the  juniper  growing 
in  Holland,  from  which  gin  is  procured.  Our  common  red 
cedar,  growing  in  South  Carolina  {Janiperus  Virginiana),  is 
closely  related  to  the  European  juniper,  and  the  berries, 
perhaps,  may  be  used  in  flavoring  drinks,  and  the  leaves 
employed  in  place  of  savin.     See  Juniperus. 

"  The  rinds  of  oranges  or  lemons,  aromatic  plants,  an- 
gelica roots  (grow  in  South  Carolina),  peach  leaves,  etc., 
may  likewise  be  mixed  with  any  of  these  fruits  which  are 


163      . 

naturally  too  sweet,  and  thus  serve  to  raise  the  flavor  of 
the  fermented  liquor,  and  render  it  more  strengthening 
and  efficacious  in  preventing  the  attack  of  disease. 

"  I  do  not  doubt  but  that  by  the  application  of  the  true 
principles  of  science,  and  by  employing  only  those  prod- 
ucts which  nature  yields  us  abundantly  and  without  ex- 
pense, we  can  procure  from  the  husbandman  a  variety  of 
drinks  more  healthy,  more  agreeable,  and  better  adapted 
for  quenching  thirst  than  the  weak  and  imperfectly  fer- 
mented wines  made  from  green  grapes. 

"I  have  limited  myself  to  pointing  out  the  simplest 
methods  in  which  such  articles  as  are  within  the  reach  of 
every  peasant  may  be  made  use  of;  if  such  liquors  as  are 
more  spiritous  be  wished,  they  can  be  obtained  by  dissolv- 
ing from  four  to  six  pounds  of  the  coarsest  kinds  of  sugar 
in  from  five  and  a  half  to  ten  and  a  half  gallons  of  warm 
water,  and  throwing  the  solution  upon  the  mash  when  the 
cask  is  filled  with  it,  supposing  the  cask  to  contain  sixty- 
six  gallons.  To  this  may  be  added  any  number  of  pounds 
of  raisins. 

"  Liquors  suitable  for  drinking  may  likewise  be  manufac- 
tured from  the  sap  of  several  kinds  of  trees.  In  Germany, 
Holland,  and  some  parts  of  Prussia,  as  soon  as  the  return- 
ing warmth  of  spring  begins  to  cause  the  ascent  of  the 
sap,  holes  two  or  three  inches  deep  are  bored  with  a  gim- 
let in  the  trunks  of  the  birch  trees ;  through  the  straws 
which  are  introduced  into  the  gimlet  holes  there  flows  out 
a  clear,  sweet  juice,  which,  after  having  been  fermented  for 
a  few  days,  becomes  a  sprightly  liquor,  that  is  drunk  by  the 
inhabitants  of  those  countries  with  much  pleasure.  It  is 
thought  by  them  to  be  very  serviceable  in  counteracting 
affections  of  the  kindneys,  stomach,  etc.  A  single  tree  will 
furnish  a  quantity  of  drink  sufficient  to  last  three  or  four 
persons  a  week.  The  natives  of  the  Coromandel  coast  fab- 
ricate their  colore  from  the  sap  of  the  cocoanut  tree.  The 
savages  of  America  prepare  their  chica  from  the  juice  of 
the  maize,  and  the  drink  of  the  negroes  of  Congo  is  made 
from  the  juice  of  the  palm  tree. 


.     164 

"-It  caunot  be  doubted  that  the  sap  of  all  those  trees 
which  afford  a  saccharine  substance  can  be  made  to  yield  a 
spiritous  liquor,  but  I  mention  only  these  few  as  instances, 
because  our  own  wants  may  be  abundantly  supplied  from 
our  fruits  and  grain. 

"The  fermentation  of  rye  and  barley  has  afforded,  from 
time  immemorial,  a  liquor  which  has  supplied  the  place  of 
wine  for  the  use  of  the  common  people  in  nearly  all  those 
countries  in  which  the  vine  cannot  be  made  to  flourish  ;  in 
those  where  wine  is  made  abundantly  the  use  of  beer  is 
still  very  extensive,  both  on  account  of  the  nutritive  quali- 
ties which  it  possesses  in  a  high  degree,  and  its  power  of 
quenching  thirst.  Though  beer  may  be  brewed  upon  so 
small  a  scale  as  to  supply  the  wants  of  a  single  family,  I 
shall  enter  into  no  explanation  of  the  process.  In  Russia  a 
wholesome  drink  called  quass  is  made.  One-tenth  part  of 
the  rye  to  be  employed  in  its  manufacture  is  steeped  in 
water  till  it  becomes  soft ;  it  is  then  spread  thinly  upon 
planks,  in  a  place  warm  enough  to  produce  germination, 
and  it  is  there  sprinkled  occasionally  with  warm  water.  The 
remainder  of  the  rye,  after  having  been  ground,  is  mixed 
with  the  germinated  grain,  and  the  whole  is  diluted  with 
two  gallons  and  a  half  of  boiling  water;  the  vessel  is  then 
set  into  an  oven,  from  which  bread  has  just  been  drawn,  or 
exposed  to  an  equivalent  degree  of  heat,  during  twenty-four 
or  thirty  hours ;  if  the  vessel  be  put  into  an  oven  which 
it  is  necessary  to  heat  every  day,  it  may  be  removed  during 
baking,  and  returned  again  after  the  bread  is  taken  out. 
After  this  first  operation,  the  fermented  substance  is  diluted 
by  mixing  with  it  two  and  a  half  gallons  of  water  at  the 
temperature  of  12°  or  15°.  (If  of  the  Centigrade,  53°  to 
59°;  if  of  Reaumur,  to  from  59°  to  65°.)  This  mixture  is 
stirred  for  half  an  hour,  and  then  allowed  to  settle.  As 
soon  as  a  deposit  is  formed  and  the  liquor  becomes  clear, 
it  is  then  thrown  into  a  cask,  where  fermentation  takes 
place ;  this  is  completed  in  a  few  days,  when  the  cask  is 
removed  into  a  cellar,  and  the  quass  soon  becomes  clear. 
It  is  in  this  state  that  it  is  drunk  by  the  peasants ;  but  it  is 


165 

much  improved  by  being  drawn  off'  in  jugs  as  soon  as  it 
has  formed  its  deposit  in  the  cask,  and  bottled,  after  hav- 
ing been  preserved  in  these  vessels  till  it  has  become  clear. 
The  liquor  prepared  in  this  manner  has  a  vinous  and  sharp 
flavor,  which  is  not  unpleasant.  The  color  of  it  is  not 
very  precise,  being  of  a  yellowish  white.  The  imperfec- 
tions of  quass  might  easily  be  remedied  by  adding  wild 
apples,  or  pears,  or  juniper  berries,  to  the  fermented  sub- 
stances. The  fermented  liquor  might  be  racked  off  several 
times  from  its  lees,  and  clarified  by  the  same  process  which 
we  use  for  wine.  The  different  deposits  which  are  formed 
during  the  manufacture  of  quass  are  entirely  of  malt,  and 
afford  a  nourishing  and  fattening  food  for  animals."  The 
reader  is  referred  to  same  authority  for  other  methods  of 
manufacturing  drinks,  beverages,  etc.,  from  articles  fur- 
nished on  our  farms. 

On  the  subject  of  fermentation,  Chaptal  gives  the  follow- 
ing hints,  which  may  avail  us  in  our  experiments  upon 
the  production  of  wine.  It  seems  to  me  that  they  convey 
some  doctrines  similar  to  those  brought  forward  by  Pro- 
fessor William  Hume,  of  South  Carolina,  in  his  ingenious 
essay : 

"  Generally  speaking,  the  French  grapes,  when  ripe,  con- 
tain such  proportions  of  sugar  and  the  vegeto-animal  prin- 
ciples as  are  well  adapted  for  producing  the  vinous  fer- 
mentation ;  but  when  the  summer  is  cold  or  damp  the 
proportion  of  sugar  is  less,  and  the  predominance  of  the 
mucilage  (it  is  from  this  mucilage  that  vinegar  is  formed) 
renders  the  liquor  weak.  In  this  case  the  small  quantity  of 
alcohol  which  is  developed  is  not  sufficient  to  -preserve  the  wine 
from  spontaneous  decomposition,  and  at  the  return  of  heat 
a  new  fermentation  takes  place,  the  product  of  which  is 
vinegar.  This  evil  may  be  easily  obviated  by  artificial 
means;  it  is  only  necessary  to"  add  to  the  liquor  such  a 
quantity  of  sugar  as  would  naturally  have  been  found  in  it 
under  usual  circumstances."  Professor  Hume  advises  the 
addition  of  alcohol,  I  believe,  to  preserve  the  wine  from  the 
acetic  fermentation.     See  also  "Treatise  on  Rural  Chem- 


166 

istry,"  by  Ed.  Solly,  F.  R.  S.  From  Lond.  ed.  Philada. 
1852  ;  articles  on  manufacture  of  wine,  brandy,  etc.,  from 
fruits  and  vegetables.  Several  articles  on  manufacture  of 
wine  can  be  found  in  Patent  Office  Reports.  See  "Grape." 
A  harvest  drink  is  made  by  adding  ten  gallons  of  water 
to  half  a  gallon  of  molasses,  a  quart  of  vinegar,  and  four 
ounces  of  ginger.  Let  the  water  be  fresh  from  the  spring 
or  well ;  stir  the  whole  well  together,  and  a  refreshing 
drink  is  obtained. 

Pyrus  communis.     Pear. 

Fruit  trees,  particularly  the  pear,  were  formerly  intro- 
duced into  hedge-rows.  It  was  objected  that  depredations 
would  be  made  upon  the  hedge.  Gerard,  who  wrote  on 
this  subject  three  hundred  years  ago,  said:  "The  poore 
will  breake  downe  our  hedges,  and  wee  have  the  least  part 
of  the  fruit.  Forward,  in  the  name  of  God;  grafte,  set, 
plant,  and  nourish  up  trees  in  every  corner  of  your  ground. 
The  labor  is  small,  the  cost  is  nothing,  the  commodity  is 
great ;  yourselves  shall  have  plenty,  the  poore  shall  have 
somewhat  in  time  of  want  to  relieve  their  necessity,  and 
God  shall  rewarde  your  good  mindes  and  diligence."  See 
paper  on  "Best  trees  for  hedges,"  in  Pat.  Office  Reports, 
1854,  p.  416.  To  manufacture  perry,  cider,  etc.,  consult 
Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. ;  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  etc. ;  see, 
also,  "Apple." 

Dr.  John  Lindley  has  written  a  most  instructive  article  on 
fecundation  in  plants,  physiological  principles,  and  meth- 
ods upon  which  fruits  are  produced.  See  his  "Guide  to 
the  Orchard  and  Kitchen  Garden,"  and  a  condensation  in 
Patent  Office  Reports,  1856,  p.  244.  lie  says  that  some 
fruits  of  excellent  qualities  are  bad  bearers,  and  recom- 
mends the  following  modes  of  remedying  these  defects : 
1st,  by  ringing  the  bark;  2d,  by  bending  branches  down- 
ward; 3d,  by  training;  4th,  by  use  of  different  kinds  of 
stocks.  All  these  practices  are  intended  to  produce  the 
same  effects  by  different  ways:  "Physiologists  know  that 
whatever  tends  to  cause  a  rapid  diffusion  of  the  sap  and 


167 

secretions  of  any  plant,  causes  also  the  formation  of  leaf 
buds  instead  of  flower  buds ;  and  that  whatever  on  the 
contrary  tends  to  cause  an  accumulation  of  sap  and  secre- 
tions, has  the  effect  of  producing  flower  buds  in  abun- 
dance;" so  that  a  flower  bud  is  often  only  a  contracted 
branch.  By  arresting  the  motions,  of  the  fluids  and  secre- 
tions in  a  tree,  we  promote  the  production  of  flower  buds. 
See,  also,  same  volume,  for  mode  of  preservation  and  trans- 
portation of  seeds,  with  the  longevity  of  seeds,  their  utility, 
and  germinative  powers.  A  long  list  is  given  of  the  length 
of  time  which  seeds  can  be  preserved. 

Pyrus  Americana,  D.  C.  (Sorbus  microcarpa,  Ph.)  High- 
est mountains  of  North  Carolina.     Fruit  acid. 

This  plant  yields  malic  acid.  I  insert  the  following  from 
lire's  Dictionary  (Farmer's  Encyclopaedia): 

Malic  acid.  This  vegetable  acid  exists  in  the  juices  of 
many  fruits  and  plants,  alone,  or  associated  with  the  citric, 
tartaric,  and  oxalic  acids;  and  occasionally  combined  with 
potash  or  lime.  Unripe  apples,  pears,  sloes,  barberries,  the 
berries  of  the  mountain-ash,  elder-berries,  currants,  goose- 
berries, strawberries,  raspberries,  bilberries,  bramble-berries, 
whortleberries,  cherries,  ananas,  afford  malic  acid ;  the 
house-leek  and  purslane  contain  the  malate  of  lime. 

The  acid  may  be  obtained  most  conveniently  from  the 
juice  of  the  berries  of  the  mountain-ash,  or  barberries. 
This  must  be  clarified  by  mixing  with  white  of  egg,  and 
heating  the  mixture  to  ebullition  ;  then  filtering — digesting 
the  clear  liquor  with  carbonate  of  lead  till  it  becomes  neu- 
tral;  and  evaporating  the  saline  solution  till  crystals  of 
malate  of  lead  be  obtained.  These  are  to  be  washed  with 
cold  water,  and  purified  by  reciws'tallization.  On  dissolving 
the  white  salt  in  water,  and  passing  a  stream  of  sulphu- 
retted hydrogen  through  the  solution,  the  lead  will  be  all 
separated  in  the  form  of  a  sulphuret,  and  the  liquor,  after 
filtration  and  evaporation,  will  yield  yellow,  granular  crys- 
tals, or  cauliflower  concretions,  of  malic  acid,  which  may 
be  blanched  by  redissolution  and  digestion  with  bone-black, 
and  recrystallization. 


168 

Malic  acid  has  no  smell,  but  a  very  sour  taste,  deliquesces 
by  absorption  of  moisture  from  the  air,  is  soluble  in  alcohol, 
fuses  at  150°  Fahr.,  is  decomposed  at  a  heat  of  348°,  and 
affords  by  distillation  a  peculiar  acid  —  the  pyromalic.  It 
consists,  in  100  parts,  of  41.47  carbon,  3.51  hydrogen,  and 
55.02  oxygen  ;  having  nearly  the  same  composition  as  citric 
acid.  A  crude  malic  acid  might  be  economically  extracted 
from  the  fruit  of  the  mountain-ash  (Sorbus  aeuparia),  ap- 
plicable to  many  purposes ;  but  it  has  not  hitherto  been 
manufactured  upon  a  great  scale. 

Punts  Americana,  D.  C.  "1      ,,       ,  .         ,       ^ 

..,      ■              .           -.-rr.,,  n  !       Mountain  ash.     Grows  on 

Sorbus  Americana,  Willd.  I  ,,       -,  ,  ,                     ,  .           r 

.      '  Vthe    highest     mountains    oi 

"       flC^m'MxTnoi       South  Carolina.     Fl.  July. 
"       microcarpa,  ML  8k.  J 

Dem  Elem  de  Bot.  655.  The  flowers  are  purgative. 
The  oil  from  the  young  branches  is  caustic,  -and  is  em- 
ployed against  ringworm. 

Amelanchier  canadensis,  L.  (Aronia  botryapium  of  Ell.  Sk.) 
Wild  currant ;  shade  trees  ;  service  tree.  Upper  country  ; 
Sarrazins ;  St.  John's,  S.  C. ;  woods  Fla.  to  Miss.,  Chap- 
man ;  Newbern  ;   Croom's  Catalogue. 

Upon  examining  with  a  sharp  instrument  the  specimens 
of  various  Southern  woods,  deposited  in  the  museum  of  the 
Elliott  Society  by  Professor  L.  R.  Gibbes,  Dr.  A.  M.  Foster, 
and  W.  Wragg  Smith,  Esq.,  I  was  struck  with  the  singular 
weight,  density,  and  fineness  of  this  wood.  I  think  I  can 
confidently  recommend  it  as  one  of  the  best  to  be  experi- 
mented with  by  the  wood  engraver.  It  is  also,  it  will  be 
observed,*  closely  allied  to  the  apple,  pear,  etc.,  which  are 
all  hard.  From  my  brief  examination  of  the  excellent  and 
useful  collection  above  referred  to,  I  would  arrange  the 
hard  woods  as  follows,  those  just  cited  taking  the  first 
rank:  next  in  order,  Dogwood,  Farcleberry  (Vaccinium 
arboreum),  Eedberry,  (Azalea  nudiflora),  and  Kahnia  latifolia. 
The  Holly  (Ilex  opaca)  I  find  to  be  quite  hard  when  well 
dried.     The  beech  (Fagus  sylcatica),  the  hornbeam  (Ostrya 


169 

Virghiica),  indigenous  plants,  have  all  been  recommended 
for  the  purposes  of  the  engraver. 

While  engaged  in  completing  a  number  of  wood  en- 
gravings for  my  prize  Essay  for  the  South  Carolina  Medi- 
cal Association,  I  used  a  piece  of  well  seasoned  dogwood, 
and  obtained  a  very  good  impression  from  coarse  figures 
cut  with  the  graver's  tools.  I  find  that  none,  so  far  experi- 
mented with,  equal  the  boxwood,  but  I  have  not  yet  fully 
tested  the  woods  put  to  season. 

See  Kalmia,  etc. 

See  apple  (Pyrus  malus)  for  stimulating  beverages  made 
from  the  fruit  of  the  service  tree. 

Prunus  Virginiana.  See  Cerasus.  Several  South  Caro- 
lina species  furnish  fruit,  which  is  eatable,  and  often  em- 
ployed for  various  domestic  purposes. 

Cerasus  serotina,  T.  &  Gray.  )      Wild  cherry.    Diffused  in 
Prunus  Virginiana,  Ell.  Sk.  J  upper  and  lower  districts ; 
Newbern.     Fl.  May. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  576 ;  Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  x,  197,  and 
xiv,  27;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  300;  Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  389; 
Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  538 ;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  487 ; 
Phjl.  Trans.  418,  and  Michaux,  K  Am.  Sylva,  ii,  205;  Ball 
and  Gar.  Mat.  Med.  273;  Cullen,  Mat.  Med.  288;  Lind. 
3&t  Syst.  Bot.  147;  Woodv.  Med.  Bot. ;  Griffith,  Med. 
Bot.  288;  Carson's  Illust.  Med.  Bot.  pt.  1.  This  is  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  most  valuable  of  our  indigenous 
plants.  The  bark  unites  with  a  tonic  power  the  property 
of  calming  irritation  and  diminishing  nervous  excitability, 
"adapted  to  cases  where  the  digestive  powers  are  impaired, 
and  with  general  and  local  irritation  existing  at  the  same 
time."  It  is  peculiarly  suited  to  the  hectic  fever  attending 
scrofula  and  consumption,  owing  to  the  reduction  of  ex- 
citability which  it  induces,  it  is  supposed,  by  the  Irydro- 
cyanic  acid  contained  in  it.  Eberle  states  that  the  cold 
infusion  had  the  effect  of  reducing  his  pulse  from  seventy- 
five  to  fifty  strokes  in  the  minute.    In  a  case  of  hypertrophy 


170 

with  increased  action  of  the  heart,  I  tried  the  infusion  of 
this  plant,  taken  in  large  quantities,  according  to  Dr. 
Eberle's  plan,  but  without  very  satisfactory  results.  It  was 
persisted  in  for  three  weeks;  the  patient,  a  gentleman  aged 
twenty-five,  of  nervous  temperament,  drinking  several 
ounces  of  it  three  times  a  day.  The  force  of  the  circula- 
tion was  at  first  diminished;  but  the  abatement  was  not 
progressive ;  the  individual  was  not  made  any  worse  by 
it.  Tincture  of  digitalis  had  been  likewise  used  with 
no  beneficial  effects.  Dr.  Wood  speaks  of  the  employ- 
ment of  the  wild  cherry  in  the  general  debility  following 
inflammatory  fever.  It  is  valuable,  also,  in  dyspepsia, 
attended  with  neuralgic  symptoms.  Mer.  and  De  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  v,  159 ;  Bull  des  Sci.  Med.  xi,  303.  The 
bark  is  indicated  whenever  a  tonic  is  necessary,  from  im- 
pairment of  the  constitution  by  syphilis,  dyspepsia,  pul- 
monaiy,  or  lumbar  abscess,  etc.  I  am  informed  by  a 
correspondent  that  he  finds  equal  parts  of  this  bark, 
rhubarb,  and  the  gum  exuding  from  the  peach  tree  (Amyg- 
dalus  communis),  which  likewise  affords  Prussic  acid,  when 
combined  with  brandy  and  white  sugar,  an  excellent 
remedy  in  dj^sentery  and  diarrhoea ;  one  ounce  of  each  is 
added  to  one  pint  of  brandy,  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
white  sugar,  a  tablespoonful  of  which  is  taken  every  half 
hour.  The  sensible,  as  well  as  the  medicinal  properties  of 
this  plant,  are  impaired  by  boiling ;  cold  water  extracts  its 
virtues  best.  The  inner  bark  is  officinal.  The  bark  of  all 
parts  of  the  tree  is  used,  but  that  from  the  root  is  most 
active.  Bark  stronger,  if  collected  from  the  root  in  au- 
tumn. Deteriorates  by  keeping.  Tonic,  sedative,  expecto- 
rant. Infusion  officinal.  Thus  made:  bark  bruised,  half 
an  ounce  ;  one  pint  water  (cold).  Macerate  for  twenty-four 
hours.  Dose,  two  or  three  fiuidounces  three  or  four  times 
a  day.  Syrup  officinal :  Take  of  wild  cherry  bark,  in 
coarse  powder,  five  ounces;  sugar,  refined,  two  pounds; 
water,  sufficient  to  moisten  the  bark  thoroughly.  Let 
it  stand  for  twenty-four  hours  in  a  close  vessel ;  then 
transfer  it  to  a  percolator,  and  pour  cold  water   upon  it 


171 

gradually  until  a  pint  of  filtered  liquor  is  obtained.  To 
this  add  the  sugar,  in  a  bottle,  and  agitate  occasionally 
until  it  is  dissolved.  Dose,  one-half  fluidounce.  By  Proc- 
tor's analysis,  it  contains  starch,  resin,  tannin,  gallic  acid, 
fatty  matter,  lignin,  salts  of  lime,  potassa,  and  iron,  and  a 
volatile  oil  associated  with  hydrocyanic  acid.  This  proved 
fatal  to  a  cat  in  less  than  five  minutes.  See  Journal 
Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  vi,  8  ;  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  x,  197. 
The  leaves,  also,  are  sedative  and  antispasmodic ;  used  in 
coughs,  angina  pectoris,  etc.  The  dose  of  the  powdered 
root  is  from  twenty  grains  to  one  drachm.  The  infusion 
is  the  most  convenient  form.  A  syrup  is  also  made ;  be- 
side several  secret  preparations. 

Method  of  making  "Cherry"  cordial  by  the  Southern 
matrons  in  the  lower  country  of  South  Carolina  (Saint 
John's)  —  a  most  delectable  drink  at  all  times,  but  par- 
ticularly valuable  in  the  present  emergency:  Fill  the  ves- 
sel with  cherries  (not  washed,  if  gathered  clean.)  Cover 
with  whisky.  After  several  weeks  pour  off'  all  the  clear 
liquor  and  press  the  cherries  through  a  sieve.  Put  into  the 
juice  thus  pressed  out  five  pints  of  brown  sugar,  and  boil 
with  syrup  enough  to  sweeten  the  whole  demijohn.  Pour 
five  pints  of  water  on  the  thick  part ;  boil  and  strain  to 
make  the  syrup  with  the  sugar.  "Blackberry  cordial"  is 
made  in  the  same  way;  or  it  can  be  stewed,  strained, 
sweetened,  and  whiskey  added.  In  the  above,  the  sugar  is 
to  be  boiled  in  the  water  which  is  obtained  from  the  thick 
part,  as  directed.     ("I.  S.  P.") 

The  wood  of  this  tree  is  highly  valuable,  being  compact, 
fine  grained,  and  brilliant,  and  not  liable  to  warp  when 
perfectly  seasoned.  "When  chosen  near  the  ramifications  of 
the  trunk,  it  rivals  mahogany  in  the  beauty  of  its  curls. 
Farmer's  Encyc. 

Cerasus  Carolinana,  Mich.  \       Wild      orange ;      Fl. 

Brums  "  L.  Ell.  Sk.  J  March. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  ornamental  of  our  indigenous 
evergreen  trees ;   and   is  planted  around  dwelling-houses. 


172 

The  berries,  bark,  and  leaves  possess  in  a  high  degree  the 
taste  characterizing  the  genus.     It  deserves  an  analysis. 

This  tree,  the  flowers  of  which  are  much  frequented  by 
bees,  grows  abundantly  on  the  sea-coast  of  our  states,  and 
is  certainly  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  manageable  ever- 
greens that  we  possess.  It  can  be  cut  into  any  shape,  and 
is  of  a  most  attractive  green  color.  It  forms  an  impervious 
hedge,  and  grows  rapidly.  The  black,  oval  berries  contain 
an  abundance  of  Prussic  acid,  as  does  the  whole  tree ;  but 
I  do  not  know  of  any  use  to  which  it  is  applied.  Dr- 
Thompson  has  found  great  use  from  Prussic  acid,  largely 
diluted,  as  a  local  application  in  impetigo.  He  used  the 
infusions  of  bayberry ;  no  doubt  the  infusions  of  the  wild 
orange  would  be  equally  useful.  In  the  Patent  Office  Re- 
ports, Agriculture,  1854,  '55,  p.  376,  are  papers  on  "Live 
fences,"  or  the  planting  and  management  of  quick-set 
hedges.  In  this  the  reader  will  find  a  most  full  and  satis- 
factory account  of  the  desirable  plants  for  hedges,  both 
American  and  European.  This  is  not  the  place  for  a  full 
description  of  these  plants  and  shrubs ;  but  I  will  at  any 
rate  give  a  list  of  some  of  them,  and  refer  the  reader  to  the 
article.  All  are  of  course  not  adapted  to  our  climate. 
The  English  sloe,  or  black  thorn  (Prunus  sjrinosa),  the  haw- 
thorn ( Crakegus  oxyacantha),  and  the  buckthorn  (Hhamnus  ca- 
ihariicus)  have  been  planted  in  this  country  with  indifterent 
success  on  account  of  the  intense  heat  of  our  southern 
sun.  "The  "'Washington  Thorn'  (C.  cordata),  growing  in 
mountains  of  Georgia,  was  also  brought  into  notice  as  a 
hedge  plant  toward  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  was 
subsequently  employed  for  that  purpose  in  various  sections 
of  the  Union  ;  but  owing  to  improper  management,  and  the 
tendency  to  disarm  itself  of  its  spines  after  a  certain  age, 
it  has  been  discontinued.  Similar  results  have  attended 
the  adoption  of  other  species  of  thorny  trees  and  shrubs 
in  this  country,  with  the  exception  of  the  'Osage  orange,' 
the  'Spanish  bayonet'  (Yucca),  and  the  'Cherokee  rose.'" 
These  are  natives  of  this  continent.  See  "  Osage  Orange." 
See  article  for   modes   of  management,  planting,   etc.,  of 


173 

hedges,  with  illustrations  on  wood.  The  arbor  vilce  (Thuja 
obcidehtalis),  one  of  our  native  plants,  growing  only  in  the 
highest  mountains,  is  said  to  be  "  indigenous,  and  to 
grow  abundantly  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  making  the 
finest  ornamental  hedge  known  to  this  climate."  The 
holly  (Ilex  opaca)  and  the  hemlock  spruce  (Abies  canadensis) 
should  be  mentioned ;  also  the  willow  box  (Buxus  sempervi- 
rens) ;  prickly  ash  (Xanthoxylum  fraxineuma) ;  honey  locust 
(Gleditschia  triacanthus)  —  all  these  are  either  natives  or  are 
cultivated  in  the  Confederate  States.  See  Willow  and 
Osage  Orange. 

Amygdalus.  The  peach  produces  abundantly  in  the  Con- 
federate States.  The  root,  leaves,  and  kernels  are  sometimes 
employed  in  medicine,  and  in  seasoning  drinks,  condiments, 
etc. — being  indebted  for  any  virtues  which  they  possess  to 
the  hydrocyanic  acid  contained  in  them.  A  tea  of  the 
leaves  is  a  favorite  domestic  palliative  in  whooping-cough, 
and  in  most  pectoral  affections.  A  tea  made  with  either 
the  bark,  leaves,  or  flowers,  will  act  freely  as  a  purge. 
Dose  for  a  child,  a  teaspoonful  repeated  every  half  hour  till 
it  operates.  A  syrup  may  be  made  by  adding  honey.  The. 
gum  of  peach  or  pear  dissolved  in  water  acts  like  gum 
arabic.  The  kernel  is  used  in  seasoning,  and  in  making 
the  cordial  known  as  ratifia;  also  in  adding  to  tonics.  The 
leaves  are  used  in  seasoning  creams  in  imitation  of  vanilla 
bean.  Leaves  put  in  layers  with  cotton,  and  boiling  water 
poured  over,  will  dye  yellow.  The  cotton  or  thread  should 
first  be  boiled  in  a  solution  of  alum.  The  leaves  of  arti- 
choke (Cynara)  also  dye  a  yellow  color:  see  uHhus."  Sassa- 
fras roots  with  copperas  yield  a  drab.  Fumigation  with 
tobacco  smoke,  syringing  with  tobacco  water,  and  washing 
with  strong  lime  water  are  requisite  for  destroying  aphides 
whenever  these  exist  in  such  swarms  as  to  make  a  copious 
discharge  of  honey  dew.  See  "Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopaedia, 
Art.  Aphis. 

Drying  Peaches.  •  Several  modes  of  effecting  this  are  pur- 
sued. .  When  done  in-doors,  furnaces  should  be  placed  in 


174 

the  cellar,  from  which  the  heated  air  may  rise  into  the 
building  suitably  provided  with  shelves,  etc. 

In  some  of  the  Southern  states,  says  Mr.  Kenrick,  the 
process  is  facilitated  by  a  previous  scalding.  This  is 
effected  by  immersing  baskets  of  the  fruit  a  few  minutes 
in  kettles  of  boiling  water.  They  are  afterward  halved,  the 
stones  separated,  and  being  laid  with  the  skins  downward, 
the  drying  is  effected  in  the  sun  in  three  days  of  good 
weather.     They  then  may  be  stored  in  boxes. 

In  France,  as  we  are  informed,  peaches  aud  other  fruits 
are  thus  dried  whole.  The  peaches  or  other  fruits,  being 
pared,  are  boiled  for  a  few  minutes  in  a  syrup  consisting  of 
one  pound  of  sugar  dissolved  in  three  quarts  of  water,  and 
after  being  drained,  by  being  laid  singly  on  board-dishes, 
they  are  placed  in  the  oven  after  the  bread  is  taken  out, 
and  when  sufficiently  dry  they  are  packed  in  boxes.  The 
following  is  the  mode  of  drying  practised  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Bellangee,  of  Egg  Harbor,  'New  Jersey:  He  has  a  small 
house  provided  with  a  stove,  and  drawers  in  the  sides  of 
the  house  lathed  at  their  bottoms,  with  void  intervals.  The 
peaches  should  be  ripe,  aud  cut  in  two,  not  peeled,  and  laid 
in  a  single  layer  on  the  laths,  with  their  skins  downward, 
to  save  the  juice.  On  shoving  in  the  drawer,  they  are  soon 
dried  by  the  hot  air  produced  by  the  stove.  In  this  way 
great  quantities  may  successively,  in  a  single  season,  be 
prepared,  with  a  very  little  expense  in  the  preparation  of 
the  building  and  in  fuel. 

Shepardia  magnoides,  ~N.  Buffalo-berry  tree.  Mo.  Nutt- 
all.     I  do  not  know  the  family  of  the  plant. 

The  fruit,  resembling  currants  of  a  fine  scarlet  color,  and 
growing  in  clusters,  have  a  rich  taste,  and  are  considered 
valuable  for  making  into  tarts  and  preserves.  Farmer's 
Encyclopaedia. 

Leguminos^,  or  Fabace^e.     (The  Bean  Tribe.) 

The  sub-orders  are  distinguished  by  nutritive,  purgative, 
and  astringent  properties. 


175 

Cladrastis  tindoria.  Raf.  ( Virgilia  lutea  Mx.)  Yellow- 
wood.     Hill  sides  Tennessee  and  Kentucky. 

The  wood  is  yellow,  and  dyes  a  beautiful  saffron  color. 

Pistidia  erythrina,  L.  Jamaica  dogwood.  South  Florida. 
Chap. 

The  piscidia  is  said  to  be  used  in  America  for  stupefying 
fish,  which  are  taken  as  readily  by  this  means  as  with  mix 
vomica.    Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopaedia. 

Baptisia  tindoria,  Ell.  Sk.  Wild  indigo.  Grows  in  rich, 
shaded  lands ;  vicinity  of  Charleston ;  collected  in  St. 
John's  ;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Barton's  Med.  Bot.  ii,  57  ;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  158.  Its 
virtues  reside  in  the  cortical  part  of  the  root.  In  large 
doses,  it  operates  violently  as  an  emetic,  cathartic,  and  sub- 
astringent  antiseptic.  It  is  said  to  have  proved  useful  in 
scarlatina,  typhus  fever,  and  the  condition  attendant  upon 
mortification  and  gangrene.  Dr.  Comstock  found  it  useful 
in  the  latter  state,  used  both  externally  and  internally. 
Eclectic  Repert.  vi ;  IT.  S.  Disp.  1231.  It  was  employed  by 
Dr.  C.  not  only  in  existing,  but  as  a  prophylactic  in  threat- 
ened mortification  and  gangrene.  Dr.  Thacher  speaks 
highly  of  its  efficacy  as  an  external  application  to  obstinate 
and  painful  ulcers,  and  Eberle  (Diseases  of  Children,  p.  98) 
used  a  decoction  with  advantage  in  the  aggravated  cases  of 
ulcerated  umbilicus,  so  frequently  met  with  in  infants.  It 
may  be  employed  topically,  in  the  form  of  a  cataplasm. 
The  young  shoots  may  be  eaten  as  asparagus ;  but  after 
they  assume  a  green  color,  they  act  as  a  drastic  purgative. 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  232.  The  decoction,  made  with  one 
ounce  of  the  recent  root  to  one  pint  of  boiling  water,  is 
given  in  doses  of  a  tablespoonful  every  three  or  four  hours. 
The  ointment,  prepared  by  simmering  the  fresh  root  in 
lard,  is  applied  to  ulcers  and  burns. 

B.  Imcophcea,  Nutt.  ")      Grows  in  dry  soils;  found  in 

bradeata,  Muhl.  Cat.  j  Georgia  also.     Fl.  April. 
Sent  to  me  from  Abbeville  district,  by  Mr.  Reed,  by  whom 


176 

I  am  informed  that  a  decoction  of  the  leaves  and  branches 
is  considered  stimulant  and  astringent,  and  was  used  by  Dr. 
Branch,  of  that  district,  with  great  satisfaction  in  all  cases 
of  mercurial  salivation. 

Medicago  lupulina,  L.  Yellow  clover ;  lucern;  nonesuch. 
Introduced.     Waste  places  Florida,  and  westward. 

It  has  been  planted  extensively  as  a  clover,  but  is  not  so 
valuable  as  other  species  —  the  M.  sativa,  for  example.  See 
Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopsedia  for  long  article  on  "Clover," 
and  "Lucern." 

Melilotus  officinalis,  Ph.  Melilot;  sweet  clover.  Com- 
pletely nat.  says  Elliott,  around  Charleston. 

Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  iii,  37.  The  infusion  of  the  flowers 
is  emollient  and  anodyne,  and  is  employed  in  inflammation 
of  the  intestines,  retention  of  urine,  tympanites,  etc.  Am. 
Herbal,  222;  U.  S.  Disp.  1275.  It  is  thought  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  very  little  efficacy  in  medicine,  but  is  used  as  a 
local  application,  in  the  form  of  decoction  or  cataplasm,  in 
inflammatory  diseases.  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  153  ;  Journal 
de  Pharm.  xxi,  152.  A  .principle  called  coumarin  exists 
abundantly  in  the  flowers  of  the  melilotus,  and  it  possesses 
an  odor  which  is  attributed  to  the  presence  of  benzoic 
acid.  See  Vogel's  Anal.  JSTouv.  Journal  de  Med.  viii,  270 ; 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  293 ;  Flore  Med.  iv, 
229;  Aublet,  Voyage,  ii,  454;  Haller,  Hist.  Stirp.  Helv. 
362.  The  flowers  are  employed  in  flatulent  colic,  and  in 
rheumatism,  and  the  decoction  for  fomentations.  Several 
species  of  it  are  used  to  flavor  Chapziger  cheese.  Wilson 
states  that  it  is  used  in  making  the  famous  Gruyere,  or 
Schabzieger  cheese,  and  is  the  cause  of  its  peculiar  flavor 
— the  flower  and  the  seeds  in  a  dried  state  being  bruised 
or  ground,  and  mixed  with  the  curd  before  pressing.  Any 
mixture  of  the  seeds  with  bread  corn  renders  the  latter 
very  disagreeable.  Melilot,  Wilson  adds,  was  long  used  in 
making  a  blister  plaster  which  bore  its  name,  and  acquired 
from  it  a  green  color  and  a  disgusting  smell,  and  was  of 
exceedingly  little  value.     Rural  Cyc. 


177 

Trifolium  pratense.,  L.  Red  clover.  Vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton ;  Newbern. 

Dem.  Elera.  cle  Bot.  ii,  36.  All, the  species  contain  a 
mucous,  nutritive  principle.  In  Ireland,  when  food  is 
scarce,  the  powdered  flowers  are  mixed  with  bread,  and  are 
esteemed  wholesome  and  nutritious.  Fl.  Scotica,  of  Light- 
foot.  Some  are  said  to  produce  vertigo  and  tympanites  in 
cattle  which  feed  on  them. 

Trifolium  arvense,  Linn.  Rabbit-foot;  field  clover. — 
"Grows  sparingly  in  the  upper  districts."  Collected  in  St. 
John's ;  Charleston  district ;  Newbern.     Fl.  April. 

Wade's  PI.  Rariores,  56.  Dickerson  observes  that  the 
dried  plant  is  highly  aromatic,  and  retains  its  odor.  It  has 
been  used  in  dysentery.    Withering,  636;  FL  Scotica,  406. 

Trifolium  reflexum.  "Wild  buffalo  clover.  Upper  dis- 
tricts ;  vicinity  of  Charleston ;  collected  in  St.  John's. 

It  affects  very  sensibly  the  salivary  glands.  In  horses, 
this  may  frequently  be  noticed. 

Trifolium  repens,  L.  White  clover.  Vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton; collected  in  St.  John's  ;  Newbern.     Fl.  May. 

Ell.  Bot.  ii,  201.  This  also  affects  the  salivary  glands, 
sometimes  producing  complete  salivation.  Fl.  Scotica, 
404.  Its  leaves  are  a  good  rustic  hygrometer,  as  they  are 
always  relaxed  and  flaccid  in  dry  weather,  but  erect  in 
moist  and  rainy. 

Astragalus.     Milk-vetch. 

There  are  five  species  of  this  genus  within  our  limits.  I 
refer  to  them  because  the  seeds  of  A.  boeticus,  planted  in 
Germany  and  England,  are  found  to  be  the  very  best  sub- 
stitute for  coffee  yet  tried,  and  so  used — roasted,  parched, 
and  mixed  with  coffee.  Our  species  of  Vicia,  tare,  vetch, 
and  Lathyrus  should  also  be  tried. 

Psoralea  esculenta.     Edible  psoralea. 

The  bread  root,  growing  in  Missouri,  is  eaten  by  the 
12 


178 

inhabitants  of  the  plain,  and  the  Rocky  mountains.     Rural 
Cyclopaedia. 

Indigofera  Caroliniana,.  Walt.  Grows  in  dry  soils; 
vicinity  of  Charleston ;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley ; 
Newbern.     M.  May. 

Not  inferior,  says  Nuttall,  to  the  cultivated  indigo.  It 
does  not,  however,  possess  so  much  coloring  matter.  The 
decoction  of  the  leaves  is  said  to  act  as  an  emetic  when 
given  in  large  quantities;  in  smaller  doses  it  is  cathartic. 
"F.  I.  S."  a  correspondent  of  the  Charleston  Mercury, 
says:  "Our  country  ladies  gather  wild  indigo,  and  ferment 
from  it  a  blue  powder  equal  to  the  commercial  indigo, 
which  dyes  a  beautiful  and  lasting  blue.  A  solution  of 
this  powder  in  water  is  a  speedy  and  certain  relief  for 
cramp  and  asthma.  The  red  sumach  dyes  a  rich  dark  or 
light  purple,  as  is  required." 

Indigofera  tinctoria.  Indigo.  Once  cultivated  in  South 
Carolina  to  a  large  extent ;  see  Indigofera  anil.  Collected 
in  St.  John's,  Berkley.     Fl.  June. 

Drayton's  View  of  South  Carolina.  Merat  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  601.  According  to  Laennec,  the  de- 
coction of  the  root  possesses  the  property  of  action  against 
poison,  and  is  useful  in  nephritic  diseases.  In  Jamaica,  it 
is  employed  to  destroy  vermin.  The  leaves  are  alterative, 
and  are  given  in  hepatic  disorders.  Ainslie,  Mat.  Med. 
Ind.  i,  180;  ii,  33;  Journal  de  Botanique,  v,  11;  Ann.  de 
Chim.  lxviii,  284;  M.  and  de  L.  Supplem.  1846,  383;  Mar- 
tius,  Syst.  Mat.  Med.  126 ;  Perollet,  Mem.  sur  la  culture  des 
indigoferes  tinctoriaux,  Paris,  1832;  L'Herminier,  Resume 
des  obs.  faites  sur  plusieurs  especes  indigoferes  de  Guade- 
loupe :  see  Jourual  de  Pharm.  xix,  257 ;  A.  Saint  Hiliare, 
"Hist.  Indigo,  from  the  first  account  of  it  till  the  year 
1833"  (Ann.  des  Sci.  Nat.  vii,  110);  Mem.  on  Indigo,  in 
the  Comptes  Rendus  Hebdom.  of  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  19th  Dec. 
1836,  445 ;  Dumas'  Mem.  upon  Indigo,  its  Composition, 
etc.,  in  the  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  iii,  6Q,  1837 ;  D.  Erd- 


179 

• 
mann,  Rech.  upon  Indigo  (in  French,  also),  in  the  26th  vol. 

Journal  de  Pharra.  460,  1840  ;  and  the  report  upon  the  pro- 
posed extraction  of  indigo  from  the  Polygonum  tinctorium,. 
See  Journal  de  Pharm.  xxxvi,  274.  The  remains  of  the 
indigo  plantations,  with  the  vats  in  which  indigo  was  pre- 
pared, are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  lower  districts  of  South 
Carolina,  bordering  on  the  Santee  river.  Since  the  intro- 
duction of  cotton  and  rice  it  is  cultivated,  though  not  very 
largely. 

On  the  cultivation,  preparation,  etc.,  of  indigo,  Woad 
(Isatis  tinctoria),  see  Chaptal's  Chemistry  applied  to  Agri- 
culture, p.  295 ;  lire's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures, 
and  Mines,  articles  "•Indigo,"  "Calico  Printing;"  also, 
Penny  Cj'cloptedia.  I  must  content  myself  simply  with  a 
reference  to  the  source  of  information.  The  I.  anil  is  also 
used  for  the  production  of  indigo.  The  So.  Cultivator,  vol. 
ii,  p.  58.  contains  a  full  account  of  the  preparation  of 
indigo.  To  avoid  the  deleterious  effects  of  fermented  in- 
digo, Dr  Roxburg,  of  India,  states  that  he  succeeds  per- 
fectly by  the  "scalding  process."  This  is  doubted.  See 
also,  Southern  Cultivator,  p.  15,  vol.  6,  report  of  a  Com- 
mittee of  Georgia  Agricultural  Association.  They  recom- 
mend the  Indigofera  argentea,  or  wild  indigo  of  Georgia.  I 
insert  the  following : 

"  The  directions  for  preparing  I  obtained,  many  years 
ago,  from  an  old  and  respectable  planter  in  South  Carolina. 
The  manuscript  which  he  delivered  to  me  was  from  the  pen 
of  one  who  had  been  extensively  engaged  in  the  cultivation 
.and  preparation  of  indigo  for  market,  before  the  Revolu- 
tion. It  has  never  been  published;  and  may,  therefore, 
impart  information  on  a  process  little  known  by  the  present 
generation. 

"The  pigment,  or  dyeing  substance  of  the  indigo,  is 
obtained  from  the  leaves.  There  are  several  species  of  this 
plant.  The  Indigofera  tinctoria,  or  French  indigo,  yields 
the  greatest  quantity,  and  is  cultivated  in  India;  but  the 
quality  is  inferior  to  the  Indigofera  argentea,  or  wild  indigo. 
The   former   is   distinguished   by  its   pinnate   leaves,    the 


180 

smaller  ribs  expanding  from  the  principal  rib  like  the 
feathers  of  a  quill,  similar  to  the  leaves  of  the  pear  and  of 
the  lime-tree,  and  by  a  more  slender,  ligneous  stem.  It 
rises,  in  a  rich  soil,  and  when  well  cultivated,  to  the  height 
of  six  feet. 

"  The  seeds  are  sown  as  early  in  the  spring  as  the  climate 
and  season  will  warrant.  In  the  West  Indies,  the  planting 
commences  in  March,  in  trenches  about  a  foot  asunder; 
and  the  weed  is  cut  down  in  May.  In  South  America,  six 
months  elapse  before  it  can  be  cut.  In  the  former,  gener- 
ally four  cuttings  are  obtained  of  the  same  plant  in  the 
course  of  a  year ;  but  in  the  latter,  never  more  than  two, 
and  often  only  one.  The  cutting  takes  place  when  the 
plant  is  in  blossom,  and  is  done  with  the  sickle.  Fresh 
plantings  of  the  seed  are  required  yearly. 

"  Commence  the  cutting  of  the  weed  in  the  evening,  in 
time  to  have  the  steeper  set  before  it  is  dark.  The  plants 
are  laid  in  strata,  and  pressed  down  by  weights.  When  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  them  are  laid,  pour  in  water  to  the 
height  of  about  four  inches  above  them.  One  inch  and  a 
half  above  the  surface  of  the  water  bore  a  hole  through 
the  side  of  the  vat,  and  directly  over  the  trough  which  is 
to  convey  the  liquor  into  the  beater..  When  the  fermenta- 
tion has  commenced  the  liquor  will  rise  and  run  over. 
Let  it  remain  until  the  stream  has  ceased,  or  nearly  so. 
This,  in  hot  weather,  will  be  from  ten  to  fourteen  hours 
after  the  water  has  been  poured  upon  the  weed,  or  on  the 
following  morning.  Immediately  draw  off  into  the  beater, 
and  commence  the  agitation.  Continue  this  for  about . 
twenty  minutes,  and  then  let  in  the  lime-water  until  you 
have  plenty  of  grain,  but  not  very  coarse.  The  agitation 
must  be  carried  on,  and  frequent  use  be  made  of  the  plate. 
As  soon  as  a  change  in  the  color  is  perceived,  from  a 
muddy  green  to  a  purple  or  blue,  the  beating  should  cease. 
This  operation  usually  requires  an  hour.  There  can  be  no 
certain  rule  as  to  the  quantity  of  lime-water  to  be  used,  or 
the  length  of  time  for  continuing  the  agitation.  If  the 
indigo  be  not  sufficiently  steeped,  it  will  require  more  lime- 


181 

water,  and  longer  beating,  and  vice  versa.  Having  obtained 
the  fine  bine  tint  you  wish,  stop  the  agitation,  and  pour  in 
an  additional  quantity  of  lime-water,  which  will  cause  the 
grains  to  collect  and  settle  in  a  short  time.  Be  careful, 
however,  not  to  add  so  much  as  to  give  the  liquor  a  yellow 
or  red  tinge  :  it  should  be  of  a  clear,  but  pale  green.  As 
the  sediment  subsides,  commence  drawing  off  the  water 
through  the  upper  plugs,  and  so  on  to  each  successively, 
until  the  mud  alone  remains  at  the  bottom  of  the  vat  or 
beater.  In  the  evening  this  should  be  removed  into  the 
drainer,  and  by  the  morning  following  it  will  be  well 
drained  and  cracked,  which  it  should  be  before  it  is  taken 
out.  Having  first  pressed  out  the  v^ater  remaining  in  it, 
work  up  the  mud ;  give  it  a  second  pressure,  and  work 
it  up  again  until  it  becomes  stiff.  After  this,  submit  it  to  a 
third  pressure,  for  cutting.  Should  your  indigo  incline  to 
mould  on  the  drying-boards,  as  it  is  apt  to  do  in  rainy  or 
damp  weather,  the  mould  must  be  wiped  off;  otherwise  it 
may  turn  to  a  gray  color.  Let  it  remain  upon  the  drying- 
boards  until  you  plainly  see  the  quality ;  afterward  it 
may  be  put  up  in  small  barrels.  In  continued  damp 
weather,  during  the  manipulating  and  drying  process,  put 
the  greenish  indigo  in  the  sun,  and  turn  it  frequently.  As 
soon  as  it  begins  to  crack,  take  it  in. 

"  Good  indigo  is  known  by  its  lightness,  or  small  specific 
gravity,  indicating  the  absence  of  earthy  impurities ;  by 
the  mass  not  readily  parting  with  its  coloring  matter,  when 
tested  by  drawing  a  streak  with  it  over  a  white  surface : 
but  above  all,  by  the  purity  of  the  color  itself.  The  first 
quality,  estimated  by  this  last  test,  is  called,  in  commercial 
language,  fine  blue  ;  the  next,  ordinary  blue,  then  fine  purple, 
etc.     The  most  inferior  is  known  as  ordinary  copper."- 

The  most  satisfactory  information  can  be  got  in  the  Pat- 
ent Office  Reports,  and  from  Mr.  Spalding,  Liebig,  Chaptal, 
Encyclopaedia,  etc.,  etc.  Several  varieties  are  cultivated. 
The  Indigofera  disperma  is  used  in  Guatemala,  and  makes 
the  best  and  most  beautiful  article.  The  Indigofera  tincioria, 
formerly  cultivated  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  is  the 


182- 

most  productive,  and  the  increase  in  quantit}'  will  make  tip 
the  deficiency  in  price. 

Culture  and  Manufacture  of  Indigo  (signed  'Oconee'). — 
"  The  soils  best  adapted  to  it  are  the  rich,  sandy  loams, 
though  it  grows  on  most  lands  moderately  well,  provided 
they  are  not  wet.  The  ground  should  be  well  broken,  and 
kept  light  and  free  from  grass  by  the  plow.  The  nature  of 
the  manure  used  exerts  a  great  influence  upon  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  its  coloring  principle.  Those  substances 
that  act  as  stimulants  to  vegetation,  such  as  lime,  pou- 
drette,  ashes,  etc.,  etc.,  favor  the  growth  of  the  plant  with- 
out injuring  the  coloring  matter.  When  barn-yard  manure 
has  been  largely  used,  a  crop  of  grain  should  first  be  raised 
on  the  land. 

"The  seed  should  be  mixed  with  ashes  or  sand,  and  sown 
in  drills  fourteen  inches  apart,  four  quarts  of  seed  to  the 
acre.  .  In  this  climate  (Middle  Georgia),  the  seed  should  be 
sown  the  first  of  April.  When  it  first  comes  up  it  should 
have  the  grass  picked  out  with  the  hand.  When  an  inch 
or  two  high  the'  grass  between  the  rows  should  be  cut  out 
with  the  hoe  or  scraper,  and  the  soil  loosened  about  the 
roots.  Three  weedings  are  enough  before  the  first  cutting, 
which  should  commence  as  soon  as  the  plant  throws  out  its 
bloom.  It  is  so  easily  injured  by  the  sun  after  being  cut, 
that  the  operation  should  be  commenced  and  end  in  the 
afternoon.  After  cutting  with  the  reap-hook,  it  is  put 
under  the  shed  until  it  can  be  put  in  the  vats.  In  Georgia, 
the  two  cuttings  yielded  sixty  pounds  of  indigo  to  an  acre, 
provided  the  roots  were  not  injured  in  the  first  cutting, 
which  at  three  acres  to  the  hand  would  be  one  hundred 
and  eighty  pounds  ($180).  The  price  varies  from  30  cents 
to  $2.25  per  pound  for  the  best  Guatemala. 

"Like  other  plants,  it  has  its  enemies.  The  leaves  are 
frequently  seen  covered  with  yellow  spots,  owing  to  some 
change  in  the  atmosphere.  It  often  happens  that  in  conse- 
quence of  a  degree  of  heat  and  drought,  the  plant  is  not 
fully  developed;  the  leaves  are  not  more  than  one-third 


183 

their  proper  size,  yet  exhibit  all  the  properties  of  a  perfect 
plant.  If  the  plant  is'  cut  in  this  imperfect  state  the  crop 
is  lost,  for  the  indigo  is  not  well  developed.  An  insect  (the 
ilea)  often  destroys  the  first  crop  of  leaves.  Next,  a  loose 
destroys  the  plant  later  in  the  season  ;  this,  however,  is  not 
so  bad  as  the  first.  The  cutworm  also  commits  some  depre- 
dations upon  it. 

"  Manufacturing  Process. — Two  methods  are  used,  the 
cold  and  the  hot.  The  cold  is  the  safest ;  the  plant  must 
be  in  a  certain  state  to  use  the  hot. 

"  1st.  By  Cold  Water. — The  weed  is  put  in  the  vat  and 
covered  with  clear  water,  where  it  remains  until  the  color 
of  the  liquid  becomes  a  light  olive;  this  is  about  ten  hours; 
the  weed  must  be  pressed  down  by  heavy  scantling  laid 
upon  it.  Draw  the  liquid  off  into  the  churn  or  beater. 
The  churning  must  now  be  commenced,  and  kept  up  until 
the  fluid  becomes  lighter  in  its  general  shade,  and  the  blue 
fecula  are  seen  in  the  water;  which  sooner  begins  from 
small  quantities  of  lime-water  being  added  from  time  to 
time  during  the  process  of  beating.  The  quantity  of  lime- 
water  that  is  used  should  be  not  more  than  one-tenth  of 
the  liquid  that  is  in  the  vat.  If  the  lime-water  be  all 
thrown  in  at  once,  the  lime  more  than  saturates  the  car- 
bonic acid,  and  the  carbonate  thus  formed  will  be  precipi- 
tated, and  thus  injure  the  indigo.  After  the  fecula  shows 
itself  distinctly  in  the  water,  the  vat  is  allowed  to  be  still 
for  four  or  five  hours,  then  the  clear  water  is  drawn  off  by 
faucets  at  different  heights,  so  as  to  allow  the  indigo  to  be 
precipitated  in  the  bottom. 

"  2d.  The  Hot  Process. — The  weed  is  put  in  the  vat, 
boling  water  is  let  on  so  as  to  saturate  the  plant,  and  fully 
cover  it.  The  weed  is  kept  down  by  scantling  thrown 
upon  it.  Allow  the  water  to  stand  from  five  to  fifteen  min- 
utes, according  to  the  effect  above  mentioned.  Draw  it  off 
through  a  faucet  and  sieve  into  the  beater;  repeat  until  all 
the  coloring  matter  is  extracted ;  beat  or  churn  as  above, 
omitting  the  lime-water;  remainder  of  the  process  the 
same. 


184 

"  The  precipitated  indigo  still  requires  some  farther  op- 
erations to  bring  it  to  a  state  of  perfection  (though  it  can 
be  dried  and  sent  to  the  market  as  it  now  is).  It  contains 
particles  that  are  imperfectly  oxyclated;  consequently  it  has 
-neither  the  color  nor  properties  of  the  best  indigo.  Con- 
tinued beating  would  bring  these  to  a  proper  state ;  but  it 
would  cause  the  particles  first  oxydated  to  imbibe  an  addi- 
tional quantity  of  oxygen,  by  which  the  color  is  too  much 
deepened,  and  the  article  would  be  rejected  in  commerce  as 
burnt  To  avoid  this,  throw  over  the  liquid  fecula  a  volume 
of  warm  water  double  the  quantity  of  the  fecula,  stirring 
it  all  the  while ;  by  this  means  the  perfect  indigo  will  be 
precipitated,  the  other  held  in  suspension.  This  water  is 
drawn  off,  and  lime  added,  etc.,  as  above,  by  which  the 
green  color  becomes  a  yellow  brown,  and  the  indigo  is  ren- 
dered insoluble  and  precipitated.  That  indigo  may  be 
pure  and  brilliant,  it  should  be  twice  washed — once  in  cold, 
and  once  in  hot  water.  After  washing,  allow  the  fecula  to 
settle,  then  draw  off  the  water. 

"The.  last  purification  now  is  to  mix  the  fecula  with 
another  quantity  of  water,  in  a  vat  having  several  faucets. 
While  it  is  suspended,  the  earths  are  precipitated  ;  draw  off 
while  stirring,  and  allow  to  settle.  The  last  operation  con- 
sists in  putting  the  fecula  in  a  coarse  bag  of  hemp  or  wool, 
and  this  bag  in  an  open  basket  to  drain,  placing  weights 
upon  it  until  it  becomes  tightly  compressed.  These  last 
operations  are  not  requisite  if  a  very  common  article  is  to 
be  made ;  but  it  is  well  to  follow  all  the  purifications.  The 
increase  in  price  will  cover  the  increase  of  trouble." 

"  Indigo  Vat. — Description. — For  ever}-  set  of  ten  hands 
there  should  be  what  are  called  a  set  of  works.  These  for- 
merly cost  about  one  hundred  dollars  or  more,  and  were  .a 
vat  or  tank,  made  of  plank  two  inches  thick,  well  joined. 
This  vat  is  twenty  feet  square,  stands  upon  posts  four  feet 
from  the  ground,  and  is  kept  tight  by  wedges  driven  into 
the  sleepers  upon  which  the  plank  rests.  The  vat  is  three 
feet  deep,  and  is  called  the  steeper.     Along-side  of  it  is 


185 

another  vat,  twenty  feet  by  ten,  occupying  the  space  be- 
tween the  bottom  of  the  steeper  and  the  ground,  into 
which  the  water  is  drawn  in  which  the  indigo  is  steeped 
when  ready  to  be  beat,  or  churned,  as  we  may  say.  At  the 
end  of  this  last  vat  a  small  tank  or  cask  must  be  placed,  to 
furnish  lime-water  in  the  process  of  beating.  The  liquor 
is  drawn  from  the  steeper  by  a  spigot  at  the  bottom  of  the 
vat  along  the  beater.  Lengthwise  of  this  is  stretched  a 
beam,  resting  on  its  upper  ends,  and  revolving  on  journals, 
and  furnished  with  cross  arms,  to  the  ends  of  which  are 
fixed  open  buckets  without  bottoms,  containing  about  two 
gallons  each.  Two  men,  standing  on  this  beam,  with  a 
handspike  fixed  to  the  long  beam,  alternately  plunge  the 
open  buckets  right  and  left,  thus  churning  the  liquid  until 
it  begins  to  show  a  blue  fecula,  which  is  produced  by  small 
quantities  drawn  from  the  lime  cask." 

Method  successfully  used  by  a  negro  (Geoffrey)  on  a 
plantation  (Mrs.  J.  S.  P.),  St.  John's,  Berkley,  South  Caro- 
lina, to  prepare  a  dye  from  the  wild  indigo : 

Cut  the  plant,  put  in  a  barrel,  and  cover  with  water.  In 
about  three  days  it  commences  to  foam,  and  it  is  then 
ready  to  churn;  take  out  the  leaves,  and  press  the  liquid 
out  *of  them.  It  is  then  to  be  whipped  up  in  a  churn 
with  a  stick  made  like  a  dasher.  When  it  foams,  a  greased 
feather  applied  to  the  surface  will  check  the  foam.  In 
order  to  test  whether  the  process  is  sufficiently  advanced 
and  the  blue  color  extracted,  it  may  be  tested  in  a  white 
plate  put  in  the  sunlight;  the  thickened  grounds  will  be 
visible.  About  a  quart  of  strong  lye-water,  or  lime  soaked 
in  water,  should  be  first  thrown  in  to  settle  it.  This  should 
be  done  before  it  is  churned.  If  the  Coloring  substance 
appears  to  be  sufficiently  separated  by  the  test  mentioned 
above,  drain  the  supernatant  water  carefully  away.  The 
remainder,  or  sediment,  should  be  placed  in  a  bag  to  drain. 
This  contains  the  indigo.  This  indigo  may  subsequently 
be  moulded  into  cakes.  I  have  seen  yarn  excellently  dyed 
by  it;  also  wool,  which  was  dyed  before  it  was  carded,  and 
made  into  cloth  (1862). 


186 

The  following  process  of  manufacturing  indigo  in  small 
quantities  for  family  use  is  extracted  from  the  Southern 
Agriculturist: 

Cut  the  indigo  when  the  under  leaves  begin  to  dry,  and 
while  the  dew  is  on  them  in  the  morning ;  put  them  in  a 
barrel,  and  fill  this  with  rain  water,  and  place  weights  on 
to  keep  it  under  water  ;  when  bubbles  begin  to  form  on  the 
top,  and  the  water  begins  to  look  of  a  reddish  color,  it  is 
soaked  enough,  and  must  be  taken  out,  taking  care  to 
wring  and  squeeze  the  leaves  well,  so  as  to  obtain  all  the 
strength  of  the  plant ;  it  must  then  be  churned  (which  may 
be  done  by  means  of  a  tolerably  open  basket,  with  a  handle 
to  raise  it  up  and  down)  until  the  liquor  is  quite  in  a  foam. 
To  ascertain  whether  it  is  done  enough,  take  out  a  spoon- 
ful in  a  plate,  and  put  a  small  quantity  of  very  strong  lye  to 
it.  If  it  curdles,  the  indigo  is  churned  enough,  and  you 
must  proceed  to  break  the  liquor  in  the  barrel  in  the  same 
way,  b}T  putting  in  lye  (which  must  be  as  strong  as  possi- 
ble) by  small  quantities,  and  continuing  to  churn  until  it  is 
all  sufficiently  curdled ;  care  must  be  taken  not  to  put  in 
too  much  lye,  as  that  will  spoil  it.  When  it  curdles  freely 
with  the  lye  it  must  be  sprinkled  well  over  the  top  with 
oil,  which  immediately  causes  the  foam  to  subside, -after 
which  it  must  stand  till  the  indigo  settles  to  the  bottom  of 
the  barrel.  This  may  be  discovered  by  the  appearance 
of  the  water,  which  must  be  let  off  gradually  by  boring 
holes  first  near  the  top,  and  afterward  lower,  as  it  continues 
to  settle ;  when  the  water  is  all  let  off,  and  nothing  remains 
but  the  mud,  take  that  and  put  it  in  a  bag  (flannel  is  the 
best),  and  hang  it  up  to  drip,  afterward  spreading  it  to  dry 
on  large  dishes.  Take  care  that  none  of  the  foam,  which 
is  the  strength  of  the  weed,  escapes ;  but  if  it  rises  too 
high,  sprinkle  oil  on  it. 

Seven  or  eight  species  of  indigo  are  found  in  the  United 
States,  most  of  which  are  in  the  South.  The  wild  indigo 
(Dyers  bapiisia),  common  in  Pennsylvania  and  other  Middle 
states,  yields  a  considerable  proportion  of  blue  coloring 
matter  of  an  inferior  kind.     (Flora  Cestrica.) 


187 

Blue  Dyes. — The  materials  employed  for  this  purpose  are 
indigo,  Prussian  blue,  logwood,  bilberry  ( Vaccinium  myr- 
tillus),  elder-berries  (Sambacus  nigra)]  mulberries,  privet- 
berries  (Ligiistmm  vulgare),  and  some  other  berries  whose 
juice  becomes  blue  by  the  addition  of  a  small  portion  of 
alkali,  or  of  the  salts  of  copper.  I  shall  here  describe  the 
other,  or  minor  blue  dyes :  To  dye  blue  w.ith  such  berries 
as  the  above,  we  boil  one  pound  of  them  in  water,  ad-ding 
one  ounce  of  alum,  of  copperas,  and  of  blue  vitriol  to  the 
decoction,  or  in  their  stead  equal  parts  of  verdigris  and  tar- 
tar, and  pass  the  staffs  a  sufficient  time  through  the  liquor. 
When  an  iron  mordant  alone  is  employed,  a  steel-blue 
tint  is  obtained;  and  when  a  tin  one,  a  blue  with  a  violet 
cast.  The  privet-berries,  which  have  been  employed  as 
sap  colors  by  the  card-painters,  may  be  extensively  used  in 
the  dyeing  of  silk.  The  berries  of  the  African  night- 
shade (Solanmn  guineense)  have  been  of  late  years  considera- 
bly applied  to  silk  on  the  continent  in  producing  various 
shades  of  blue,  violet,  red,  brown,  etc.,  but  particularly 
violet. 

Glyceria  tomerdosa.     Grows  in  dry  pine  lands.     Fl.  June. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  387.  In  Pondicherry, 
this  is  given  to  horses  in  place  of  oats.  Mem.  du  Museum, 
vi,  326^ 

Tephrosia  Virginiana,  Ph.  Turkey  pea ;  goat's-rue.  Vi- 
cinity of  Charleston ;  grows  in  dry  soils.     Fl.  July. 

Lindley's  Med.  Flora,  244 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  238.  The 
roots  were  used  by  Indians,  and  are  now  employed  in  pop- 
ular practice  as  a  vermifuge ;  a  decoction  is  said  to  act  as 
powerfully  and  as  efficiently  as  the  pink  root  (Spigelia). 
Attention  is  invited  to  it. 

Amorpha  fruticosa,  L.  Bastard  indigo.  Florida,  Caro- 
lina, and  Mississippi. 

This  was  formerly  used  in  Carolina  as  an  indigo  plant, 
and  continues  to  be  extensively  cultivated  in  Britain  as  an 
ornamental  shrub.     Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopaedia. 


188 

Robinia  p'seudacacia,  L.  Yellow  locust  tree ;  locust ;  false 
acacia.  Grows  in  the  mountains  of  South  Carolina;  vi- 
cinity of  Charleston;  collected  in  lower  St.  John's,  Berk- 
ley, near  Ward's  plantation,  Mrs.  Prioleau's ;  Newbern. 
Fl.  May. 

Dem.  JSlem.  de  Bot.  The  flowers  are  aromatic  and  emol- 
lient. An  antispasmodic  syrup  is  prepared  from  them ; 
and  Gendrin  states  that  when  given  to  infants  it  produces 
sleep,  vomiting,  and  sometimes  slight  convulsive  move- 
ments ;  he  relates  a  case  where  it  was  swallowed  by  boys, 
in  whom  acro-narcotic  effects  were  induced.  Mer.  and  de 
L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  101 ;  Desfont,  Traite  des  Arbres,  ii, 
304 ;  Ann.  d'Hort.  ix,  168  ;  Ann.  Clin,  de  Mont,  xxiv,  68. 
The  inner  bark  is  fibrous,  and  may  be  spun  into  cordage; 
the  wood  is  of  a  fine,  compact  grain,  and  is  used  for  manu- 
facturing purposes.  Mem.  sur  la  Robinia,  Mem.  de  la  Soc. 
d'Agricult.  1786 ;  Francois,  Letters  on  the  Robinia,  Paris, 
1803.  Griffith,  in  his  Med.  Bot.  239,  says  that  it  has  not 
received  sufficient  attention,  for  "every  part  is  endowed 
with  some  good  quality."  On  account  of  its  durability,  the 
wood  is  much  used  for  treenails  in  ship-building ;  the 
leaves,  prepared  in  the  same  manner  as  those  of  the  indigo, 
may  be  employed  as  a  substitute:  they  afford  an  excellent 
nourishment  for  cattle,  either  in  the  fresh  or  in  the  dried 
state.  Willich,  Domestic  Encyc.  i,  x.  Grossier  (Desc.  de 
la  Chine)  says  that  they  are  used  by  the  Chinese  to  produce 
the  beautiful  yellow  color  so  remarkable  in  their  silks.  It 
is  prepared  by  roasting  half  a  pound  of  the  half  expanded 
flowers  in  a  copper  pan  over  a  gentle  fire,  and  stirring 
them  continually ;  after  turning  yellow,  water  is  poured 
over,  and  it  is  boiled  till  it  acquires  a  deep  color.  It  is 
then  strained,  and  half  an  ounce  of  alum,  and  the  same 
quantity  of  shell  lime  are  added,  when  the  dye  is  fit  for 
use.  It  is  possible  that  this  author  may  have  confounded 
this  plant  with  the  R.  flava.  Merat  says  the  flowers  fur- 
nish a  palatable  dish  when  fried.  The  seeds  are  somewhat 
acrid,  but  afford  a  large  quantity  of  oil  on  expression.  By 
infusion  in  water,  they  become  perfectly  mild,  and  contain 
an  excellent  farina. 


189 

This  tree,  both  the  leaves  and  flowers  of  which  are  beau- 
tiful, has  attracted  great  attention  in  England,  and  its  seeds 
are  largely  imported,  to  be  planted  as  a  hedge  and  orna- 
mental plant,  and  for  various  purposes.  Almost  a  mania 
prevailed  upon  the  subject.  "ISTo  other  tree  grows  more 
rapidly  than  this,  excepting  some  species  of  the  willow  and 
the  poplar."  A  sucker  at  Chiswick  grew  twenty  feet  in 
one  season,  with  a  circumference  of  three  inches.  When 
the  tree  is  felled  suckers  spring  from  the  trunk  in  great 
profusion. 

Large  quantities  are  exported  to  Liverpool  for  fastening 
bolts  in  ship-building.  C.  W.  Johnson  and  others  write  of 
it  thus:  "The  wheelwright  and  the  coach-builder  have  em- 
ployed it  for  axle-trees  of  carriages ;  the  turner  has  used  it 
for  various  purposes  of  his  art,  and  has  been  delighted  with 
its  smooth  texture,  and  beautifully  delicate  straw  color; 
fence-makers  have  used  it  for  rail  fencing,  and  have  found  it 
to  stand  wet  and  dry  near  the  ground  better  than  any  other 
timber  in  common  use,  and  to  be  as  durable  as  cedar;  land- 
scape gardeners  have  planted  it  for  a  combination  of  orna- 
ment and  utility.  *  *  Farmers  might  try  it  for  the  formation 
of  hedges,  and  were  they  to  transplant  it  from  the  nursery 
when  it  has  a  height  of  about  four  feet,  they  would  find  it 
forming  a  hedge  quite  equal  in  compactness,  strength, 
economy,  and  manageableness,  to  hedges  consisting  of 
tried  and  approved  plants,  and  a  hedge  available  as  a 
fence  far  earlier  than  any  other,  and  capable  of  being  raised 
to  any  desirable  elevation.  The  flowers  of  the  acacia  tree 
are  used  in  St.  Domingo  for  making  a  distilled  liquor,  and 
its  roots,  and  leaves,  and  juices  contain  a  considerable  pro- 
portion of  sugar."  Wilson's  Encyc.  Rural.  The  plants  are 
easily  propagated  by  pouring  boiling  water  over  the  beans 
in  the  fall;  let  them  remain  twenty-four  hours,  and  plant. 
They  grow  six  or  seven  feet  the  first  season. 

Robinia  hispida;  also  Va.  rosea.  Rose  acacia.  Mountains 
of  Georgia  and  North  Carolina.     Chapman. 

Wilson  speaks  of  'it  as  a  "  remarkably  beautiful  shrub." 


190 

Its  shoots  of  each  year,  or  newest  and  freshest  twigs,  carry 
the  flowers  ;  so  that  its  old  wood  may  be  annually  pruned 
away  to  any  extent  which  the  taste  of  the  cultivator  or  the 
situation  of  the  plants  may  require.  The  flowers  are  large, 
odorless,  and  of  a  beautiful  rose  color.  See,  also,  nearly 
all  the  English  and  Scotch  authorities. 

The  following  highly  interesting  account  of  this  tree, 
and  the  mode  of  cultivating  it  in  the  United  States,  is 
given  by  Dr.  S.  Ackerly : 

"  The  cultivation  of  the  locust  tree  on  Long  Island,  and 
in  other  parts  of  the  State  of  N"ew  York,  has  been  attended 
to  with  considerable  profit  to  the  agricultural  interest,  but 
not  with  that  earnestness  which  the  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject demands.  This  may  have  arisen  from  the  difficulty  of 
propagating  it  by  transplanting,  or  not  understanding  how 
to  raise  it  from  the  seed. 

^  jjs  *  ^c  *  ^  X 

"  The  locust  is  a  tree  of  quick  growth,  the  wood  of  which 
is  hard,  durable,  and  principally  used  in  ship-building.  To 
a  country  situated  like  the  United  States,  with  an  extensive 
line  of  sea-coast,  penetrated  by  numerous  bays,  and  giving 
rise  to  many  great  rivers,  whose  banks  are  covered  with 
forests  of  extraordinary  growth,  whose  soil  is  fertile,  rich, 
and  variegated,  and  whose  climate  is  agreeably  diversified 
by  a  gradation  of  temperature ;  to  such  a  country,  inhab- 
ited by  an  industrious  and  enterprising  people,  commerce, 
both  foreign  and  domestic,  must  constitute  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal employments.  As  long  as  the  country  possesses  the 
necessary  timber  for  ship-building,  and  the  other  advanta- 
ges which  our  situation  affords,  the  government  will  con- 
tinue to  be  formidable  to  all  other  powers.  We  have  within 
ourselves  four  materials  necessary  for  the  completion  of 
strong  and  durable  naval  structures.  These  are  the  live-oak, 
locust,  cedar,  and  pine,  which  can  be  abundantly  supplied. 
The  former  is  best  for  the  lower  timbers  of  a  ship,  while 
the  locust  and  cedar  form  the  upper-works  of  the  frame. 
The  pine  supplies  the  timber  for  decks,  masts,  and  spars. 
A  vessel  built  of  live-oak,  locust,  and  cedar,  will  last  longer 


191 

than  if  constructed  of  any  other  wood.  Naval  architecture 
has  arrived  in  this  place,  and  other  parts  of  the  United 
States,  to  as  great  perfection,  perhaps,  as  in  any  other  coun- 
try on  the  globe.  Our  'fir-built  frigates'  have  been  com- 
pared with  the  British  oak,  and  stood  the  test ;  and  in 
sailing,  nothing  has  equalled  the  fleetuess  of  some  of  our 
sharp  vessels.  The  preservation  and  cultivation  of  these 
necessary  articles  in  ship-building  is  a  matter  of  serious 
consideration.  It  might  not  be  amiss  to  suggest  to  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  to  prohibit  the  exportation  of 
them.  The  pine  forests  appear  almost  inexhaustible,  and 
they  will  be  so  in  all  probability  for  many  generations  to 
come ;  but  the  stately  cedars  of  Mobile,  and  the  lofty  for- 
ests of  Georgia,  where  the  live-oak  is  of  a  sturdy  growth, 
begin  to  disappear  before  the  axe  of  the  woodsman.  The 
locust,  a  native  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  is  in.  such 
demand  for  foreign  and  domestic  consumption  that  it  is 
called  for  before  it  can  attain  its  full  growth.  It  has  been 
cultivated  as  far  eastward  as  Rhode  Island,  but  begins  to 
depreciate  in  quality  in  that  state.  Insects  attack  it  there, 
which  are  not  so  plentifully  found  in  this  state,  nor  its  native 
situations.  These  give  the  timber  a  worm-eaten  appear- 
ance, and  render  it  less  useful.  The  locust  has  been  exten- 
sively cultivated  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  but  the  call  for  it  has  been  so  great  that  few  trees 
have  attained  any  size  before  they  were  wanted  for  use. 
Hence  they  are  in  great  demand,  and  of  ready  sale,  and  no 
ground  can  be  appropriated  for  any  kind  of  timber  with  so 
much  advantage  as  locust.  Beside  its  application  to  ship- 
building, it  is  extensively  used  for  fencing;  and  for  posts, 
no  timber  will  last  longer,  in  or  out  of  the  ground.  On 
Long  Island,  where  wood  is  scarce  and  fencing  timber  in 
great  demand,  the  locust  becomes  of  much  local  impor- 
tance from  this  circumstance  alone,  independent  of  its  great 
consumption  in  this  city  among  ship-builders.  In  naval 
structures  it  is  not  exclusively  applied  to  the  interior  or 
frame.  In  many  places  where  strength  is  wanting,  locust 
timber  will  bear  a  strain  which  would  break  oak  of  the 


192 

same  size.  Thus  an  oak  tiller  has  been  known  to  break 
near  the  head  of  the  rudder  in  a  gale  of  wind,  which  has 
never  happened  with  a  locust  one.  Tillers  for  large  sea 
vessels  are  now  uniformly  made  of  locust  in  JSTew  York. 
It  is  the  best  timber  also  for  pins  or  treenails  (commonly 
called  trunnels),  and  preferable  to  the  best  of  oak.  The 
tree  generally  grows  straight,  with  few  or  no  large  limbs, 
and  the  fibres  of  the  wood  are  straight  and  parallel,  which 
makes  it  split  well  for  making  treenails,  with  little  or  no 
loss  of  substance.  These  are  made  in  considerable  quanti- 
ties for  exportation. 

"  The  locust  tree  does  not  bear  transplanting  well  in  this 
part  of  our  country,  but  this  in  all  probability  arises  from 
the  custom  of  cutting  off  the  roots  when  taken  up  for  that 
purpose.  Most  of  the  roots  of  the  locust  are  long,  cylin- 
drical, and  run  horizontally  not  far  under  the  surface.  In 
transplanting,  so  few  of  the  roots  are  left  to  the  body  of 
the  tree  removed  that  little  or  no  support  is  given  to 
the  top,  and  it  consequently  dies.  If  care  was  taken  not 
to  destroy  so  much  of  the  roots  a  much  larger  proportion 
of  those  transplanted  would  live  and  thrive.  So  great  has 
been  the  difficulty  in  raising  the  locusf  in  this  way  that 
another  method  of  propagating  it  has  been  generally  re- 
sorted to.  Whenever  a  large  tree  was  cut  down  for  use, 
the  ground  for  some  distance  around  was  ploughed,  by 
which  operation  the  roots  near  the  surface  were  broken 
and  forced  up.  From  these  roots  suckers  would  shoot  up, 
and  the  ground  soon  become  covered  with  a  grove  of  young 
trees.  These,  if  protected  from  cattle  by  being  fenced  in, 
would  grow  most  rapidly,  and  the  roots  continuing  to 
extend,  new  shoots  would  arise,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years  a  thrifty  young  forest  of  locust  trees  be  produced. 
The  leaves  of  the  locust  are  so  agreeable  to  horses  and 
cattle  that  the  young  trees  must  be  protected  from  their 
approach.  When  growing  in  groves  they  shoot  up  straight 
and  slender,  as  if  striving  to  out-top  each  other,  to  receive 
the  most  benefit  from  the  rays  of  a  genial  sun. 

"  Another  difficulty  has  arisen  in  propagating  the  locust, 


193 

from  inability  to  raise  it  from  the  seed.  The  seed  does  not 
always  come  to  perfection  in  this  part  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  if  it  does,  it  will  not  sprout,  unless  prepared 
before  planting.  The  method  best  adapted  to  this  purpose 
was  proposed  by  Dr.  Samuel  Bard  ;  but  it  is  not  generally 
known,  or  if  known,  is  not  usually  attended  to.  When 
this  shall  be  wTell  understood  and  practised,  the  locust  will 
be  easily  propagated,  and  then,  instead  of  raising  groves  of 
them,  the  waste  ground  along  fences,  and  places  where  the 
Lombardy  poplar  encumbers  the  earth  will  be  selected  to 
transplant  them,  as  by  having  them  separated  and  single 
there  will  be  an  economy  in  using  the  soil,  the  trees  will 
grow  much  better,  and  the  timber  be  stronger. 

"Dr.  Bard's  method  of  preparing  the  seeds  was  to  pour 
boiling  water  on  them,  and  let  it  stand  and  cool.  The 
hard,  outer  coat  would  thus  be  softened,  and  if  the  seed 
swelled  by  this  operation,  it  might  be  planted,  and  would 
soon  come  up." 

Robinia  viscosa,  Vent.  Clammy  locust.  Grows  among 
the  mountains,  and  in  Georgia.     Fl.  May. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  101.  The  young 
branches  afford  an  abundant,  glossy  exudation,  secreted  by 
little  superficial  glands,  which  is  dissolved  by  ether ;  Vau- 
quelin  considers  it  a  peculiar  product :  An.  de  Chim.  xxvii, 
223.  Chevalier,  however,  doubts  it :  Diet,  des  Drogues, 
iii,  15. 

Rhyncosia  tomentosa  (?).  Dollar-plant.  Diffused  in  dry 
pine  lands. 

This  plant,  receiving  its  name  probably  from  the  shape 
of  the  leaf,  is  reputed,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Aiken,  S.  C, 
and  elsewhere,  to  be  a  valuable  agent  in  arresting  trouble- 
some diarrhoea.  A  tea  is  given  several  times  a  day.  Several 
cases  have  come  to  my  knowledge  where  it  was  successfully 
employed  —  no  doubt  on  account  of  tannin  contained  in  it, 
as  is  evident  from  the  taste. 
13 


194 

Vicia  saliva,  Linn.  Walter.  Tare.  Grows  abundantly 
around  Charleston.     Fl.  June. 

In  England,  a  decoction  of  the  seeds  in  water  is  used  as 
a  sudorific  in  small-pox  and  measles.  The  seeds  are  a  good 
food  for  pigeons.  Fl.  Scotica,  396 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet, 
de  M.  Med.  vi,  892. 

V.  faba.     Garden  bean.     Cultivated. 

Piswn  sativum.     Pea. 

Great  use  is  made  of  the  varieties  of  the  pea  on  the  plan- 
tations in  this  state,  as  articles  of  food  for  men  and  animals. 
The  species  called  the  cow-pea  is  most  in  use ;  I  have 
been  unable  to  find,  and  do  not  believe  that  there  exists 
any  accurate  botanical  description  of  this  very  valuable 
plant.  It  seems,  however,  from  my  examination,  to  be 
included  under  the  genus  Vicia. 

Am-phicarpa  monoica.     Grows  in  rich  lands.     Fl.  July. 
Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  322.     The  subterranean  pod  is 
cultivated  as  a  vegetable. 

Arachis  hypogxa.  Ground-nut.  Brought  by  the  negroes 
from  Africa.     Fl.  May. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.;  Supplem.  53,  1846. 
The  fruit  preserves  its  germinative  powers  for  forty  years. 
Boudich  Excurs.  392.  Large  quantities  are  exported  from 
■Senegal  on  account  of  the  oil  which  is  expressed  from 
them,  and  which  is  much  valued.  Ermandel  "On  the 
cultivation  of  the  ground-nut,  and  its  employment  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  coffee,"  Journal  de  la  Litter.  Etrang.  ix,  169 ; 
Du  Buc,  Mem.  on  the  use  of  A.  hypog.,  and  an  examina- 
tion of  its  oil  (in  French);  see  Journal  de  Pharm.  viii,  231; 
Kivoli,  Lettre  sur  l'Arachis  hypogsea,  Milan,  1807  ;  Don- 
men,  Notice  sur  l'Arachis,  Montpellier,  1838.  According 
to  the  analysis  of  Pagen  and  Henry,  it  is  very  difficult  for 
the  oil  to  become  rancid.  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  i,  435 ; 
Ann.  de  Hist.  Nat.  iv,  206 ;  Gurnin,  Mem.  sur  l'Arachis, 


195 

Biblioth.  Physice  Econ.  i,  145 ;  Tessier,  Mem.  sur  l'Ara- 
chis,  Avignon.  The  seeds,  parched  and  ground,  can  with 
difficulty  be  distinguished  from  cofl'ee,  as  I  have  myself 
experienced.  In  some  portions  of  South  Carolina  it  is 
employed  as  a  substitute.  The  okra  [Hibiscus  esculentus) 
serves  the  same  purpose.  The  ground-nut  and  bene  make 
rich  and  nutritious  soup,  and  act  as  substitutes  for  meat. 
They  are  often  parched,  and  beaten  up  with  sugar,  and 
served  as  a  condiment  or  dessert.  The  ground-nut  is  culti- 
vated to  some  extent  in  South  Carolina,  and  great  use  is 
made  of  it  on  the  plantations  as  an  article  of  food,  and  for 
various  domestic  purposes ;  it  is  exported  with  profit,  but 
troublesome  to  prepare.  I  am  not  aware  of  any  use  being 
made  in  this  state  of  the  oil  which  it  affords  on  expres- 
sion. The  authorities  cited  above  will  afford  much  valu- 
able information. 

The  above  was  published  in  my  report  on  Med.  Botany, 
S.  C.j  1849.  Since  the  war  it  is  largely  employed.  The 
superintendent  of  the  Rockfish  Factory  in  North  Carolina, 
writes  that  he  has  "used  the  pea-nut  oil  by  the  side  of  the 
sperm,  and  that  it  works  fully  as  well.'' 

Gleditschia  triacanthus,  L.  Sweet  locust;  honey  locust. 
Diffused.  As  far  west  as  Mississippi ;  I  have  seen  it  in 
lower  and  upper  districts  of  South  Carolina. 

Beer  is  sometimes  made  by  fermenting  the  sweet  pods 
while  ffesh.  The  pores  of  the  wood  are  very  open.  When 
perfectly  seasoned,  the  wood  is  extremely  hard.  It  is  far 
inferior  to  the  black  walnut  or  wild  cherry  for  cabinet- 
making.  Hedges  of  it  are  rendered  impenetrable  by  its 
long  thorns.     Michaux,  in  Farmer's  Encyc. 

Cassia  Marylandiea,  L.  Wild  senna.  Grows  along  the 
banks  of  rivers ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  135 ;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot,  261. 
It  is  said  to  be  as  safe  and  as  certain  in  its  operation  as  the 
imported  senna,  but  more  apt  to  gripe ;  this  may  be  cor- 
rected by  infusing  fennel  seed  or  some  other  aromatic  with 


196 

the  leaves.  It  is  prepared  in  large  quantities  by  the 
Shakers,  and  is  generally  collected  after  the  seeds  ripen ; 
one  ounce  of  the  leaves  is  added  to  one  pint  of  hot  water, 
of  which  the  dose  is  one  to  three  ounces,  repeated.  I 
have  specimens  of  the  leaves  of  the  officinal  senna,  which 
is  cultivated  successfully  by  Mr.  W.  Lucas,  of  South  Caro- 
lina, for  use  on  his  plantation.  He  says  that  it  does  not 
appear  to  degenerate. 

Cassia  occidentalis,  L.  )       Styptic  weed;   Florida  cof- 

"  Carolmiana,  Walt.  $  fee.  Common  around  old 
buildings  ;  collected  in  St.  John's  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ; 
Columbia.     Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  130 ;  Marcgrave,  in 
his  Hist,  of  Brazil,  mentions  it  as  a  remedy  in  the  poison 
of  venomous  animals,  and  in  strangury.  In  the  Supplem. 
to  Merat,  p.  150,  1846,  properties  are  ascribed  to  it  similar 
to  those  of  the  C.  hirsuta,  which  is  diuretic,  acting  on  the 
lymphatic  system,  and  employed  in  obstructions,  debility, 
dropsy  caused  by  derangement  of  the  digestive  organs,  and 
as  a  vermifuge  also ;  forty  grains,  parched  like  coffee,  are 
used.  It  is  useful  as  an  application,  in  the  form  of  a  decoc- 
tion of  the  leaves,  in  itch,  erysipelatous  eruptions,  irrita- 
tion, and  inflammation  of  the  rectum.  The  negroes  apply 
the  leaves,  smeared  with  grease,  as  a  dressing  for  sores. 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  262;  Bouditch,  Exper.  392 ;  Chernoviz, 
Form.  222.  Once  thought  to  be  very  valuable  as  a  substi- 
tute for  coffee ;  roots  thought  to  be  injurious  to  hogs. 

(Jassia  cham&crista,  L.  Golden  cassia.  Diffused  in  dry, 
sandy  soils ;  collected  in  St.  John's  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston ; 
Xewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. ;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  390;  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  129.  The  leaves  are  said  to 
be  purgative.  It  grows  in  abundance  in  South  Carolina, 
and  should  be  examined.  It  is  employed  in  portions  of  the 
country  for  the  recovery  of  worn-out  lands ;  those  that  are 


197 

sandy  being  particularly  benefited  by  it.     See  Greenway's 
account  of  the  domestic  uses.     Op.  ant.  cit. 

Cassia  tora,  L.  Diffused  in  cultivated  soils ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston.     Fl.  Sept. 

Supplem.  to  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  1846,  150 ; 
Ainslie's  Mat.  Med.  Ind.  ii,  405.     Used  in  India. 

Cercis  canadensis,  L.  Redbud  ;  Judas-tree.  Swamps,  vi- 
cinity of  Charleston  ;  collected  in  St.  John's.    Fl.  March. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  380.  "The  wood  is  of  great  value  for 
mechanical  purposes,  as  it  polishes  exceedingly  well,  and  is 
admirably  veined  with  black  and  green." 

Schrankia  angustata,  T.  and  G.  1  Grows  in  pine  lands. 
"        uncinata,  Ell.  Sk.       j  Fl.  July. 

The  leaves  of  this  plant  possess  a  remarkable  degree  of 
sensibility,  or  irritability,  closing  up  immediately  upon 
contact  with  any  surface.  I  have  just  repeated  upon 
this  plant,  and  in  a  measure  verified  the  experiments  with 
chloroform  and  sulphuric  ether  upon  the  Mimosa  sensitiva, 
made  by  Prof.  Marcet,  of  Geneva,  in  illustration  of  the 
relations  existing  between  animal  and  vegetable  sensi- 
bility.* After  trying  a  number  of  substances,  including 
the  tinctures  of  opium,  capsicum,  and  camphor,  and  the 
solutions  of  tartar  emetic,  sulph.  morphine,  and  hyd.  potash, 
without  producing  any  impression,  I  ascertained  that  the 
two  anaesthetic  agents  alone,  when  placed  on  the  main 
petiole  of  the  leaves,  had,  in  about  five  minutes,  their  influ- 
ence gradually  extended  to  those  above,  causing  the  leaf- 
lets to  contract  seriatim.  Though  sensibility  to  impressions 
was  impaired  by  each  successive  attempt,  yet  it  was  never 
entirely  lost.  The  result  of  my  observations  differed  from 
those  of  Prof.  Marcet,  but  agreed  with  De  Candolle  in  his 
analogous  experiments  with  nitric  and  sulph.  acids  in  its 


*  Read  before  the  Soc.de  Phys.  et  cl'Hist,  Nat.,  Oct.  19th.  1849.     See,  also,  Sill, 
Journal.  July.  1849. 


198 

not  disclosing  any  impressions  transmitted  downward,  or  at 
any  rate  beyond  the  junction  of  the  branch  experimented 
on  with  the  main  limb  of  the  plant.  A  drop  of  the  oil  of 
aniseseed  placed  on  a  leaf-stalk  seemed  to  have  the  effect 
of  arresting  the  transit  of  any  influence  beyond  it ;  hence, 
we  may  be  led  to  suspect  that  the  impression  is  conveyed 
by  organs  of  sensation  arranged  not  far  from  the  surface. 
In  the  examination  I  was  assisted  by  Dr.  Rene  Ravenel. 

In  sensitive  plants,  Mimosa,  for  example,  the  move- 
ments of  the  leaves,  says  Mr.  C.  Mackensie,  quoted  by 
Wilson,  have  their  origin  in  certain  enlargements  situated 
at  the  articulation  of  the  leaflets  with  the  petiole,  and  of 
the  petiole  with  the  stem.  If  by  a  longitudinal  section 
the  lower  half  of  this  swelling  be  removed,  the  petiole  will 
remain  depressed,  having  lost  the  power  of  elevating  itself. 
If  the  superior  half  be  removed,  the  petiole  will  remain 
constantly  elevated,  having  lost  the  power  of  depressing 
itself.  These  facts  prove  that  the  motious  of  the  petiole 
depend  on  the  alternate  turgescence  of  the  upper  and  lower 
half  of  the  enlargement,  situated  at  the  point  of  articula- 
tion, and  that  contractility  is  not  the  principle  of  these 
motions.  The  irritation  of  a  burning  lens,  for  example,  is 
felt  either  above  or  below.  This  interior  movement  M. 
Dutrochet  found  was  transmitted  equally  well,  even  though 
a  ring  of  bark  has  been  removed;  that  it  is  transmissible 
even  though  the  bark  and  pith  be  removed,  so  that  nothing- 
remains  to  communicate  between  the  two  parts  of  the 
skin  except  the  woody  fibres  and  vessels ;  that  it  is  trans- 
missible even  when  the  two  parts  communicate  merely  by  a 
shred  of  bark ;  and  that  it  may  be  transmitted  even  when 
the  communication  exists  by  the  pith  only ;  but  that  it  is 
not  transmissible  when  the  communication  exists  only  by 
the  cortical  parenchyma.  «Froni  these  very  interesting 
experiments,  it  results  that  the  interior  movement  pro- 
duced by  irritation  is  propagated  by  the  ligneous  fibres  and 
the  vessels.  The  propagation  is  more  rapid  in  the  petioles 
than  in  the  body  of  the  stem,  the  rapidity  having  been 
computed.     Absence  of  light  during  a  certain  time  com- 


199 

pletely  destroys  the  irritability  of  the  plant.  The  return 
of  the  sun's  influence  readily  restores  the  plant  to  its  irrita- 
ble state.  "It  appears,  therefore,  that  it  is  by  the  action  of 
light  that  the  vital  properties  of  vegetables  are  supported, 
as  it  is  by  the  action  of  oxygen  that  those  of  animals  are 
preserved ;  consequently,  etiolation  is  to  the  former  what 
asphyxia  is  to  the  latter."     Rural  Cyc. 

Calycanthace^e.     {The  Carolina  Allspice  Tribe.) 
Flowers  aromatic  and  fragrant. 

thlycanthus  Floridus,  Linn.  Sweet  shrub.  Specimens 
from  Aiken ;  I  have  observed  it  growing  wild  in  Fairfield 
district.     Fl.  May. 

One  of  the  most  aromatic  and  sweet  scented  of  our  in- 
digenous plants ;  cultivated  on  this  account  in  gardens. 
Dr.  Douglass,  of  Chester  district,  S.  C,  sends  me  a  commu- 
nication from  his  correspondent,  Mr.  McKeown,  who  says 
he  has  frequently  used  it  with  satisfaction,  as  an  antispas- 
modic tonic,  in  the  cure  of  chronic  agues.  A  strong  decoc- 
tion of  the  seed  or  bark  of  the  root  is  given.  The  wood  is 
strongly  camphorated,  especially  the  root,  and  Mr.  Nuttall 
thinks  will  probably  produce  this  drug  as  abundantly  as 
the  Laurus  camphora.     Seeds  seldom  mature. 

MYRTACEiE.     [Myrtle  Tribe.) 

Eugenia,  Micheli.     Allspice  family. 

Several  species  of  this  genus  are  found  in  South  Florida. 
See  Chapman's  Southern  Flora.  The  timber  of  most  Eu- 
genias  is  useful  and  good.  Like  the  myrtles,  their  bark 
abounds  in  tannin,  their  soft  parts  contain  a  more  volatile 
oil,  and  the  fruit  of  some,  though  rendered  somewhat  disa- 
greeable by  the  aroma  of  the  oil,  are  edible.  Wilson's 
Rural  Cyc. 

Saxifragace,e.     {The  Saxifrage  Tribe.) 

De  Cand.  considers  the  whole  order  as  more  or  less  astrin-, 
gent. 


200 

Heuchera  Americana,  L.  Alum-root.  Grows  in  damp 
soils;  Richland,  Dr.  G-ibbes ;  collected  in  St.  John's; 
Charleston  district ;  found  also  in  Georgia  ;  ISTewbern. 

Coxe's  Am.  Disp.  112 ;  Lind.  Nat  Syst.  Bot.  163 ;  U.  S. 
Disp.  390 ;  Barton's  Collec. ;  Mich.  Flora  Boreal.  Ameri- 
cana, i,  171.  "A  powerful  astringent."  The  powder  was 
employed  by  the  aborigines  in  wounds  and  cancerous 
ulcers.  Bart.  M.  Bot.  ii,  159 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  iii,  490.  It  is  also  administered  as  a  substitute  for 
colocynth.  It  is  used  in  decoction,  tincture,  or  syrup, 
wherever  an  astringent  is  required  —  as  in  diarrhoea,  piles, 
menorrhagia,  etc.,  etc. 

BuRSERACEiE.     (Torchivood  Tribe.) 

Amyris  Floridana,  Xutt.  Torchwood.  South  Florida. 
Chapman. 

Nearly  all  the  species  afford  fine  materials  in  both  their 
resin  and  their  wood  for  fragrant  incense  and  delightful 
pastiles.  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  Our  species  should  be 
examined.  A  South  American  species  yields  a  gum  which 
makes  one  of  the  best  of  known  varnishes.  Frankincense 
is  said  to  be  got  from  the  Pinus  tceda.  The  Bur  sera  gummi- 
fera,  Jacq.  of  Florida,  also  yields  a  balsam. 

Anacardiace^e.     ( The  Cashew  Tribe.) 

Trees  abounding  in  a  resinous,  sometimes  acrid,  highly 
poisonous  juice,  are  the  ordinary  representatives  of  this 
order. 

Rhus  toxicodendron,  T.  &  Gray.  )  Poison  oak.  Diffused; 
"      radicans  of  authors.  J  common  in  pine  lands; 

vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Trous.  et  Pid.  Mat.  Med.  i,  524 ;  Bell's  Pract.  Diet,  453 ; 
Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  116  ;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  603  ;  Ed.  and 
Vav.  Mat,  Med,  345 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  718 ;  Ball,  and  Gar.  Mat. 
Med.  241;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  341;  Bergii,  Mat,  Med.  i, 
248 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  78 ;  Orfila,  Toxi- 


201 

cologie  Gen.  i,  45;  Ann.  de  Chim.  xxxv,  186;  An.  Journal 
de  Med.  Ixxx,  136 ;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  117  ;  Ell.  Bot. 
363;  Alibert,  Elems.  de  Therap.  i,  452;  Big.  Am.  Med. 
Bot.  iii,  20 ;  Du  Fresnoi,  quoted  in  Ann.  of  Med.  v,  182, 
and  483;  Med.  and  Phys.  Journal,  i,  308;  vii,  273;  and 
x,  486  ;  Duncan's  Disp.  294  ;  Bull.  Plantes  Yen.  de 
France,  146. 

It  produces  in  those  who  come  into  its  vicinity  an  ery- 
sipelatous inflammation.  It  is  stimulant  and  narcotic, 
employed  in  paralysis  and  herpes  ;  of  the  former  disease, 
seventeen  cases  are  reported  by  one  physician  to  have  been 
successfully  treated  with  it.  The  juice  which  exudes  on 
plucking  the  stem  makes  a  good  indelible  ink.  It  is  dis- 
solved by  ether.  Bigelow  thinks  it  is  composed  of  a  resin 
and  an  essential  oil.  Purging  with  neutral  salts,  the  use  of 
opium,  blood-letting,  and  cold  applications  of  acetate  of  lead 
are  employed  in  case  of  poisoning  from  these  plants.  The 
bruised  leaves  of  the  Collinsonia  canadensis  (which  grows  in 
the  Confederate  States)  are  employed  for  the  eruptions 
caused  by  the  emanations  from  the  poisonous  sumachs, 
and  the  Verbena  urticifolia,  also  found  in  South  Carolina,  is 
likewise  considered  an  antidote.  Horseiield,  in  his  Diss., 
states  that  he  administered  the  infusion  in  consumptive 
and  anasarcous  patients.  Du  Fresnoi  reports  cases  of.  her- 
petic eruption  cured  by  preparations  of  this  plant;  also 
four  cases  of  palsy.  Dr.  Alderson,  of  Hull,  has  given  it 
with  o-ood  effect  in  doses  of  one-half  to  one  o-rain,  three 
times  a  day,  in  paralysis.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  Supplem.  1846,  627.  Dr.  Baudelocque  employs  it 
with  success  in  the  chronic  ophthalmia  of  scrofulous  in- 
fants, a  col^-rium  being  made  of  the  alcoholic  tincture. 
Four  drachms  in  two  ounces  of  water  is  used,  afterward 
augmenting  the  dose.  Rev.  Med.  ISTov.  1836 ;  A.  How- 
roarth's  Hist.  R.  Toxicod.  in  Essai  Med.  du  Docteur  Al- 
derson, Lond.  1793;  Fontana,  Traite  de  la  vipere,  ii,  169; 
Alibert,  M.  Med.  i,  450.  Some  have  inoculated  them- 
selves with  it  without  injury.  Biblioth.  Med.  xxvi,  395. 
"On  cite  un  eas  mortel  par  suite  d'attouchement  des  par- 


202 

ties  sexuelles  apres  avoir  manie  des  rameaux  de  ce  vegetal:" 
Me.  loe.  cit.  See  Annal.  in  Journal  de  Chim.  In  employ- 
ing it  for  ringworm  Du  Fresnoi  increased  the  dose  of  the 
extract  till  it  amounted  to  eight  grains  a  day.  "Novel 
effects  concerning  a  dangerous  American  plant,"-  by  Gle- 
ditch  (in  French);  see  Journal  de  Physic,  1782  ;  Du  Fresnoi, 
in  Actes  de  la  Soc.  de  Med.  de  Bruxelles,  i,  136  ;  Wursur, 
sur  leE.  Toxicod. ;  Actes  de  La  Soc.  Econ.  de  Florence, 
iii,  138  ;  and  observations  by  Wilhmet  on  the  effects  of  this 
plant,  in  Journal  de  Med.  de  Courv.  i,  209 ;  Employ.  R. 
Tox.  in  Thesis,  at  Montpellier ;  Ann.  de  Clinique,  vi,  343. 
Heinning's  case  of  paralysis,  cured  by  R.  rad.  in  Bull,  des 
Sc.  Med.  de  Ferus,  iv,  262.  It  is  employed  in  maladies 
arising  from  general  debility,  and  defective  innervation.  A 
French  writer  testifies  to  the  efficacy  of  this  plant  in  homoe- 
opathic doses,  in  all  cutaneous  diseases.  Dr.  Alderson 
prefers  the  infusion  of  the  recent  leaves  ;  Van  Mons  the 
extract  of  the  dried  leaves.  By  analysis,  it  contains  a  very 
combustible  "hydrocarbonate,"  tannin,  gallic  acid,  resin, 
gummy  substance,  fecula,  etc.  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  185 ; 
and  Stephenson  and  Churchill,  iii,  167 ;  Bull,  des  Sc.  Med. 
vi,  98  ;  Bull  de  la  Facult.  v,  439.  An  acrimonious  vapor, 
combined  with  carburetted  hydrogen,  exhales  from  a  grow- 
ing plant  of  the  poison  oak  sumach  during  the  night,  can 
be  collected  in  a  jar,  and  is  capable  of  inflaming  and  blis- 
tering the  skin  of  persons  of  excitable  constitution  who 
plunge  their  arms  into  it.  The  yellow,  milky  juice  turns 
dark,  and  forms  one  of  the  best  indelible  inks  for  marking 
linen,  and  is  used  by  the  Japanese  as  a  varnish.  Rural 
Cyc.     See  varnish  sumach  (i?.  vernix). 

Rhus  glabra,  Linn.  Smooth  sumach.  Grows  in  the 
upper  districts ;  found  near  Columbia,  and  Augusta,  Ga., 
in  wet  soils.     Fl.  May. 

"  If  the  bark  of  the  root  is  boiled  in  equal  parts  of  milk 
and  water,  forming  with  flour  a  cataplasm,  it  will  cure 
burns  without  leaving  a  scar."  The  excrescences  have 
been  preferred,  as  an  astringent,  to  tannin  or  gallic  acid. 


208 

'Dr.  Walter  employed  and  substituted  them  for  galls ;  their 
sourness  is  supposed  to  be  owing  to  malic  acid,  which  is 
contained  in  the  pubescence.  According  to  Dr.  Cozzens, 
also,  of  New  York,  they  are  astringent,  and  refrigerant, 
furnishing  with  water  a  cooling  drink,  useful  in  inflamma- 
tion and  ulceration  of  the  throat.  The  excrescences  on  the 
leaves  of  the  JR.  glabra  which  I  have  gathered  (1862)  on 
Tiger  creek,  Spartanburg  district,  are  as  large  as  persim- 
mons— resemble  fruit  in  appearance — are  powerfully  astrin- 
gent, and  contain  moving  bodies  like  seeds  attached  to  the 
inner  walls,  surrounded  by  a  white,  cottony  substance, 
probably  embryo  animals.  These  glandular  excrescences 
are  showy.  I  would  recommend  them  as  a  perfect  substi- 
tute for  tannin.  I  have  dried  and  powdered  them.  They 
are  a  pure  astringent.  Dr.  Fahnestock  states  that  an  infu- 
sion of  the  inner  bark  of  the  root  is  employed  as  a  gargle, 
and  is  considered  almost  as  a  specific  in  the  sore  throat 
attending  mercurial  salivation.  An  infusion  of  the  leaves 
sweetened  with  honey  is  serviceable,  applied  in  the  same 
way,  and  for  cleansing  the  mouth  in  putrid  fevers.  The 
bark  is  considered  a  febrifuge.  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  166 ; 
II.  S.  Disp.  598 ;  Am.  Journal  Med.  Sci.  561 ;  Mer.  and  de 
L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  77,  where  its  employment  as  a  gar- 
gle is  alluded  to  ;  Rev.  Medicale,  i,  1830,  307 ;  Griffith, 
Mecl.  Bot.  106.  The  decoction  of  the  root  is  used  by  the 
Indian  doctors  in  the  treatment  of  gonorrhoea  and  gleet, 
and  as  a  wash  in  ulcers.  In  other  words,  it  is  an  astrin- 
gent. The  bark  of  this,  the  JR.  copal,  and  the  R.  typhinum, 
and  of  the  European  species,  acts  as  a  mordant  for  red 
colors,  and  much  use  is  made  of  it  in  the  tanning  of  mo- 
rocco leather.  A  vinegar  may  be  prepared  from  the  berries 
of  this  species. 

I  introduce  the  replies  of  several  correspondents  of  the 
Charleston  Courier  (1862)  to  inquiries  concerning  the 
sumach. 

Dr.  Abner  Lewis  Hammond  writes  : 

"  The  Rhus  Glabra  I  consider  identical  with  that  so 
extensively  grown  for  export  and  manufacturing,  purposes 


204 

in  Sicily.  The  difference,  as  seen  in  the  size  of  the  leaves, 
tree,  etc.,  is  attributable,  no  doubt,  only  to  a  difference  in 
locality,  soil,  and  cultivation,  and  to  no  other.  I  have  seen 
it  flourishing  alike  on  the  mountain  slopes  and  in  the  val- 
leys of  Virginia;  on  the  rich  table  lands  and  bottoms  of 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Illinois ;  on  the  flinty  ridges 
and  barren  mineral  lands  of  Missouri.  Under  cultivation 
it  suckers  freely.  Looking  at  its  value  and  importance  as 
a  manufacturing  agent  or  material,  and  its  easy  production, 
I  have  long  wondered  at  its  total  neglect,  and  feel  no  hesi- 
tancy in  saying  that  with  the  same  care  given  to  its 
cultivation  by  our  people  as  by  the  Sicilians,  it  could  he  as 
successfully  and  profitably  raised  in  the  one  as  the  other 
country,  and  should,  under  existing  circumstances,  be  neg- 
lected no  longer.  Hundreds  and  thousands  of  bags,  at 
heavy  expense,  are  annually  imported  into  the  United 
States  for  tanning  and  other  purposes,  yielding  to  the 
growers  (after  expense)  a  remunerating  profit.  The  ber- 
ries, the  bark  of  the  tree  and  roots,  have  for  years  fur- 
nished the  country  people  here  and  in  the  West  a  most 
substantial  dyestuff"  (a  brilliant  black),  while  its  prepared 
leaves  (ground)  have  been  as  steadily  used  (to  the  full  ex- 
tent of  the  available  quantity)  in  the  preparation  of 
morocco." 

A  correspondent  ("E")  writes  from  Graham's  Turnout, 
South  Carolina : 

"  Your  article,  and  a  subsequent  communication  lead 
me  to  believe  there  is  more  importance  in  the  sumach  than 
I  ever  attached  to  it.  When  a  small  boy  I  recollect  to 
have  gathered  bushels  of  the  berry  on  the  mountains  in 
this  state  for  the  purpose  of  having  the  wool  dyed  black 
for  the  woof  of  our  home-made  jeans.  I  have  learned 
something  from  your  correspondent,  and  will  try  its  use  in 
shoemakers'  wax  (as  he  stated.)  There  can  be  any  quan- 
tity  gathered  in  this  section  almost  without  any  charge. 

"  Should  any  one  wish  to  try  dyeing  wool,  they  will  find 
it  one  of  the  handsomest  black  dyes  known  to. me." 


205 

Dr.  Vm.  Jeuson,  of  Charleston,  writes : 

"Sumach — Rhus  Glabra  —  figured  also  as  Rhus  Virgini- 
cum,  better  known  as  smooth  sumach,  and  variously  called 
Pennsylvania  sumach,  upland  sumach,  is  a  native  of  most 
parts  of  the  continent  of  North  America.  Grows  in 
dry,  uncultivated  places,  flowering  early  in  July,  and  suc- 
ceeded by  dense  clusters  of  crimson  berries,  which,  when 
mature  (about  early  autumn),  are  covered  with  a  whitish 
and  very  acid  efflorescence  (often  used  to  make  vinegar  in 
country  localities.)  The  bark  and  leaves  are  astringent,  and 
said  to  be  used  in  tanning  leather  and  in  dyeing.  Excres- 
cences are  produced  under  the  leaves  resembling  galls  in 
character.  These  have  been  used  by  Dr.  Walter,  of  New 
York,  who  thought  them  in  every  respect  preferable  to  im- 
ported galls.  The  only  officinal  part  is  the  berries,  which 
are  used  as  a  refrigerant  and  febrifuge,  though  Dr.  Fahne- 
stock  speaks  highly  of  an  infusion  made  from  the  inner 
rind  or  bark  of  the  root,  for  a  wash  and  gargle  in  the  sore 
mouth  attending  inordinate  mercurial  salivation.  The 
writer's  own  experience  has  been  to  use  the  berries  in  im- 
pure water,  or  when  that  was  not  to  be  obtained,  to  put 
them  into  the  mouth  to  allay  the  thirst  attendant  upon 
riding  through  the  hot,  unsheltered,  and  frequently  water- 
less prairies  of  the  far  West.  He  also  knows  that  a  syrup 
made  with  the  berries  is  successfully  used  in  the  fall  fluxes, 
while  a  drink  made  with  them  is  a  favorite  remedy  in 
many  localities  in  febrile  attacks.  In  the  sickly  year  of 
1853  the  writer  used  them  (the  berries)  constantly,  although 
frequently  changing  his  atmosphere  from  the  free,  open 
prairie  to  the  confined  pestilential  air  of  a  city  with  yellow 
fever  ravaging  in  it,  and  without  experiencing  the  slightest 
indisposition." 

James  Peckham,  of  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  adds : 

"I  have  often  wondered  that  no.  one  here  has  engaged 
in  its  cultivation,  or  rather  in  gathering  and  preparing  it 
for  market,  as  it  grows  all  over  the  country." 

The  following  was  communicated  by  Mr.  C.  H.  Woodin, 
of  Charleston : 


206 

"  I  notice  in  the  Courier  an  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  use 
of  the  sumach,  which  grows  so  abundantly  in  the  lower 
portions  of  our  state.  Your  correspondent  informs  us 
that  it  is  very  beneficial  in  making  shoewax,  consequently 
it  was  called  shoemach.  But  the  sumach  is  not  only  used 
for  making  wax,  but  it  is  extensively  used  in  the  New 
England  and  Northern  states  for  tanning  purposes." 

"The  sumach  leaf  is  invaluable  in  tanning  fine  hog 
skins  and  skirting,  and  it  is  shipped  in  great  quantities 
from  South  America  to  all  the  principal  tanneries  in  the 
North. 

"  The  process  is  this :  It  is  well  known  to  every  tanner 
that  the  most  important  thing  in  making  good  leather  is  to 
have  it  properly  colored,  and  that  it  is  not  crisped  or 
parched  on  the  grain  in  the  "handlers." 

"  The  shoemac  leaf  is  put  into  a  vat  which  is  intended 
for  a  "handler,"  and  then  the  vat  is  filled  with  clean,  fresh 
water,  and  when  it  has  stood  until  the  strength  is  entirely 
out  of  the  leaf,  the  skin  or  stock  is' taken  from  the  "  bait," 
rinsed  in  the  "pool,"  and  then  placed  in  the  "handler." 
The  stock  is  then  turned  or  handled  as  in  other  processes, 
until  "the  grain  is  properly  colored.  It  is  then  taken 
through  the  regular  process  of  tanning,  and  when  it  is 
scoured  it  is  perfectly  white.  The  stock  should  be  tanned 
with  white  oak,  or  some  other  kind  of  mild  bark. 

"The  advantage  of  the  sumach  is  this:  That  the  stock 
comes  out  fair  and  good,  while  in  other  processes  the  grain 
has  to  be  made  white  by  acids,  which  injures  the  stock  very 
much.  Tanners  intending  to  make  fair  leather  would  do 
well  to  make  a  note  of  this  information." 

See  "Sweet  Gum"  (Liquidambar)  for  my  examination  of 
this,  the  sumach,  and  other  leaves,  as  substitutes  for  oak 
bark. 

Rhus  vernix,  L.  Ell.  Sk.  |      Poison   sumach ;   swamp  su- 
"     venenata,  J).  C.        jmach;  poison  elder.    Grows  in 
the  upper  districts,  and  in  Georgia;  collected  in  St.  John's; 
vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  June. 


207 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  82;  Lindley,  Phil.  , 
Trans,  vi,  Abridg.  507 ;  Sherard,  do.  508 ;  Kalm's  Travels, 
i,  77;  Marshall's  Abstract,  130;  Cutler,  Am.  Acad.  427; 
Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  i,  86;  Bart.  Coll.  24;  Thacher's  Disp. 
321 ;  see  Big.  R.  vernix,  Nouv.  Journal  de  Med.  xv,  43  ;  U. 
S.  Disp.  718.  This  also  gives  out  a  poisonous  exhalation  ; 
some  are  even  affected  by  the  atmosphere  around  it.  It  is 
thought  to  be  identical  with  one  in  Japan,  which  furnishes 
a  tine  varnish  much  used  in  that  country.  Dr.  Bigelow 
ascertained  that  the  juice,  which  flows  in  large  quantities 
from  our  tree  when  wounded  in  the  spring,  affords  a  bril- 
liant, glossy,  black  varnish.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  Supplem.  1846,  628.  See  Thunberg's  Voyage,  vi,  15, 
for  a  notice  of  the  oil  extracted  from  the  seeds.  Lind.  Nat. 
Syst.  168  ;  Linn.  Veg.  M.  Med.  56.  It  is  styptic  and  astrin- 
gent, and  the  resin  is  used  as  an  ointment  in  piles.  Bige- 
low, in  his  examination  of  the  juice,  referred  to  above, 
believes  that  it  consists  of  a  resin  and  an  essential  oil.  He 
first  boiled  it  till  the  volatile  oil  had  escaped ;  the  remain- 
der, being  reduced  almost  to  the  state  of  a  resin,  was 
applied  warm  as  a  varnish.  Dr.  Pierson  reports  an  inter- 
esting case  of  poisoning  from  this  plant ;  and  it  is  said  that 
some  individuals  have  been  injuriously  affected  by  the 
fumes  from  the  wood  of  this  and  the  Rhus  radicans,  acciden- 
tally burnt  on  the  fire.  A  swarm  of  bees  was  poisoned 
by  alighting  on  one  of  these  trees.  New  York  Medical 
Repos. 

Rhus  copallina,  Linn.  Walt.  Wing-rib  mountain  sumach. 
Diffused.  Vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  Florida  and  Mississippi, 
and  northward ;  collected  in  St.  John's ;  Newbern.  Fl. 
July. 

Ell.  Bot.  302  ;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  136.  A  wash  is 
applied  to  ringworms.  The  root  is  used  by  the  Chippeway 
Indians  as  an  antivenereal.  The  excrescences  on  the  leaves 
are  powdered  and  made  into  an  ointment  as  an  application 
to  hemorrhoids.  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  It  does  not  afford 
copal.     The  leaves  were  mixed  with  tobacco,  and  used  by 


208 

the  Indians  for  smoking.  The  sumach  is  said  to  form  an 
ingredient  in  the  manufacture  of  "Killickinick"  tobacco. 
The  berries  are  quite  sour,  and  afford,  with  water,  a  cooling 
drink. 

Wilson  asserts  in  the  Rural  Cvc.  that  the  JR.  copallina 
does  contain  copal.  "The  resin  from  this  shrub  exists  in 
smooth,  brittle,  translucent,  roundish,  small  masses;  has 
little  taste,  and  scarcely  any  odor;  is  fusible  by  heat,  inflam- 
mable by  ignition,  insoluble  in  water,  very  sparingly  solu- 
ble in  alcohol,  and  fully  soluble  in  sulphuric  ether  and 
some  essential  oils.  It  is  the  characteristic  ingredient  of 
the  well  known  copal  varnish,  an  article  requiring  operose 
and  careful  manufacture,  but  distinguished  for  the  brilliancy, 
durability,  hardness,  and  resistance  of  its  exquisite  polish." 
Consult  " Liquidambar"  for  detail  of  experiments.  By  my 
experiments  the  leaves  of  the  Rhus  contain  more  tannin 
than  either  the  sweet  gum,  myrtle,  or  any  of  the  fifteen  or 
twenty  that  I  examined  by  reagents.  I  am  also  convinced 
that  the  excrescences  abundant  on  the  Rhus  glabra  (or 
smooth  sumach)  would  furnish  an  excellent  material  for  the 
supply  of  tannin.  Upon  drying,  and  examining  them,  I 
find  the  tannin  in  a  highly  concentrated  state.  They  would 
be  suitably  used  wherever  an  astringent  is  required  in  med- 
icine, and  should  be  added  with  the  leaves  to  the  tan-vat. 
See  article  "  Quercus  tincto?ia"  in  this  volume,  for  trees 
furnishing  tannin  and  gallic  acid. 

Rhus  pumila,  Mich.  Ph.  Upper  districts;  Newbern.  Fl. 
August. 

U.  S.  Disp.  719 ;  Mx.  Flora  Americana.  According  to 
Pursh,  it  is  the  most  poisonous  of  the  species. 

Rhus  typhina,  Walt.     Flora  Carol.     Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  82 ;  see  Analysis, 
in  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  iv,  511.  Lassaigne  says  that 
this  contains  malic  acid.  The  incised  bark  yields  resin.  It 
is  employed  in  preparing  morocco  leather.  See  R.  ver- 
nix,  etc. 


209 

Rhus  coriaria.  This  species  of  sumach  is  exotic,  and  is 
the  principal  plant  cultivated  in  Sicily  for  export.  I  insert 
the  following,  in  case  it  shall  be  found  expedient  to  "ex- 
ploit" or  plant  our  wild  sumachs  which  are  found  so 
abundantly  in  rank  meadows;  particularly  abundant,  I  have 
observed,  in  the  Dismal  Swamp,  Va.  I  think  it  is  suffi- 
ciently abundant  there  to  supply  almost  any  amount  for  the 
purposes  of  the  tanner  or  dyer : 

"In  the  best  sumach  one  hundred  grains  of  the  leaf  should 
give  thirty  to  thirty-five  grains  of  pure  tannin.  The  proper 
adaptation  of  the  land  can  be  ascertained  by  testing  the 
leaves  with  sulphuric  ether.  '  Use  as  much  sulphuric  ether 
as  will  dissolve  the  sumach,  or  pass  it  through  the  sumach 
till  it  runs  clear,  then  draw  off  the  ether  by  heat,  and  the 
deposit  will  be  pure  tannin.'  A  rough  test  for  tannin  is 
prepared  with  a  solution  of  sulphate  of  iron,  or  may  depend 
upon  its  coagulation  of  albumen. 

"The  sumach  is  thus  cultivated  near  Palermo:  The  soil  is 
prepared  as  for  potatoes,  with  furrows  from  two  to  two  and 
a  half  feet  apart,  in  which  in  January  or  February  are 
placed  the  young  suckers  two  and  a  half  feet  apart.  In 
August  of  the  first  year  the  leaves  on  the  lower  part  of  the 
branches  are  drawn  off  with  the  thumb  and  finger,  leaving 
a  tuft  on  the  top.  In  October  the  whole  head  is  taken  off, 
or  sometimes  broken,  and  left  hanging  by  the  bark  till  dry. 
The  second  year,  in  June,  the  branches  are  stripped  of 
ripe  leaves;  and  in  August,  as  soon  as  the  wdiole  plant  is 
mature,  it  is  cut  with  a  sickle  dowm  to  six  inches.  It 
is  then  spread  out,  and  dried  thoroughly  on  each  side  till 
entirely  cured.  The  June  gathering  is  omitted  in  many 
cases  when  the  plants  are  not  strong.  After  being  dried 
the  branches  are  put  upon  a  floor  and  thrashed,  when  the 
leaves  will  separate  from  the  wood,  which  is  of  no  value 
except  for  fuel.  The  leaves  are  then  ground  between  two 
millstones,  one  of  which  is  on  edge,  and  revolving  around 
a  centre.  We  visited  a  mill  driven  by  steam-power,  which 
threw  out  the  powdered  sumach  in  large  quantities.  The 
air  was  filled  with  fine  particles  of  dust,  which  covered  our 
14 


210 

clothing,  and  entered  the  lungs.  It  is  not  injurious,  how- 
ever, for  although  it  seemed  suffocating,  the  workmen 
will  sleep  three  or  four  hours  successively  in  it,  and  are 
always  remarkably  healthy.  They  were  particularly  ex- 
empt from  cholera.  The  leaves  are  readily  reduced  to 
powder  while  the  stems  are  not.  These  last  are  then  sep- 
arated by  sifting,  and  the  pure  sumach  is  placed  in  bags  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty-three  pounds  for  shipment.  Two 
thousand  pounds  of  ground  sumach  to  an  acre  is  considered 
a  good  crop."   . 

This  corroborates  my  own  suggestion  regarding  the 
employment  of  leaves  for  the  supply  of  tannin.  See  article 
Tannin,  and  Sweet  Gum  (Liquidambar),  for  my  comparative 
experiments  upon  the  leaves  of  gum,  myrtle,  etc.,  for  tan- 
nin. Both  these  trees  grow  abundantly  everywhere,  and 
will  easily  supply  a  large  amount  of  tannin,  to  be  used  as  I 
suggest — in  place  of  oak  bark. 

Most  of  the  plants  containing  tannin  will  furnish  a  black 
dye,  with  iron.  "The  basis  of  black  dyes  for  all  organic 
fibres  is  the  tannogallate  of  iron ;  but  the  modes  of  appli- 
cation vary  with  the  nature  of  the  fabric,  whether  silk, 
wool,  or  cotton.  The  finest  blacks  are  obtained  by  a  com- 
bination of  colors ;  thus,  a  rich  black  is  imparted  to  wool 
by  grounding  it  with  a  deep,  indigo  blue,  then  passing  it 
through  logwood,  galls,  or  sumach,  and  finally  through  a 
bath  of  these,  with  copperas  and  verdigris,  or  immediately 
through  the  latter."  *Wilson[s  Rural  Cyc.  See,  also,  lire's 
Diet,  of  Arts,  article  "  Calico  Dyeing."  Any  of  our  plants 
containing  either  tannin  or  coloring  principles  can  be  used 
as  dyes,  with  alum  or  iron. 

There  is  a  paper  by  John  M.  Marston  on  the  cultivation 
of  the  sumach  in  Sicily,  in  Patent  Office  Reports,  1851,  p. 
60.  I  believe  that  the  great  abundance  of  sumach  in  the 
Dismal  Swamp,  Virginia,  would  supply  for  a  long  time  all 
we  would  require — besides,  it  grows  abundantly  in  our 
savannas,  and  among  myrtles  throughout  the  country. 
Mr.  Marston  thinks  that  the  superiority  of  the  Sicilian 
sumach  lies  in  the  mode  of  cultivating  it —  "all  the  leaves 


211 

are  the  production  of  the  young  sprouts  that  spring  up  from 
the  stump  every  year."  The  middle  Southern  states  he 
thinks  adapted  to  its  growth.  "  The  export  of  sumach  to 
the  United  States  last  year  was  65,000  bags." 

I  quote  as  follows  from  the  letter: 

"  Sumach  is  an  article  of  commerce  to  the  Sicilians  of 
great  importance,  as  it  is  also  with  the  Americans.  And, 
it  is  my  opinion  that  this  article,  so  valuable  for  manu- 
facturing purposes,  for  tanning,  etc.,  can  be  produced  in 
the  United  States  in  sufficient  quantity  to  supply  the  world, 
if  the  mode  of  its  culture  be  understood,  and  proper  atten- 
tion be  paid  to  it. 

"  I  have  no  idea  that  it  is  the  same  kind  that  grows  in 
the  United  States,  which  there  runs  to  the  size  of  trees. 
In  Sicily  they  plant  the  roots  or  small  plants  from  two  to 
three  feet  apart ;  rows  about  four,  so  that  the  plough  or 
harrow  can  save  the  hand  labor  of  the  hoe.  They  hoe  it 
two  or  three  times .  before  the  rains  finish  in  May,  and 
gather  it  in  July  and  August.  The  leaves  are  the  only 
parts  made  use  of.  After  being  separated  from  the  twigs 
by  thrashing  (or,  in  this  country,  both  ways  —  by  thrashing 
and  treading  off  with  oxen  and  horses),  the  leaves  are  then 
ground  to  the  state  of  fineness  in  which  you  see  it  in  the 
United  States,  being  passed  through  sieves  or  bolting-cloths 
of  sufficient  fineness,  and  put  into  bags  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  pounds  each.  The  proper  season  for  planting  the 
roots  or  plants  is  in  November,  December,  and  January. 
When  the  season  is  rainy,  the  plants  take  root  better.  The 
root  or  stump  is  cut  off  from  four  to  six  inches  above 
ground.  The  scions  or  sprouts  spring  up  four  to  six  out  of 
each  root;  and  when  at  maturity,  which  in  this  island  is 
in  July  or  August,  they  are  all  cut  off  at  the  stumps,  and 
laid  in  small  handfuls  to  dry,  say  for  a  day  or  two.  Do 
,not  spread  them  out  much,  as  the  sun  will  turn  the  leaves 
yellow,  and  great  care  must  be  taken  that  no  rain  falls  on 
them.  Perhaps,  in  this  country,  it  may  answer  to  plant 
nearer  together  than  would  be  advisable  in  America,  on 
account  of  the  greater  heat  of  the  sun  here,  and  thus  shade 


212 

the  ground  better.  The  leaves  are  ground  in  mills  mostly 
by  horse-power ;  but  water  or  steam-power  would  be  much 
cheaper  and  better.  The  perpendicular  running  stones 
weigh  nearly  three  thousand  pounds ;  they  run  double  or 
single  round  an  upright  shaft.  The  nether  or  foundation 
stone  is  heavier,  and  one-third  greater  in  diameter  than  the 
running  stones.  The  grinding  surface  of  these  latter  is 
slightly  rough,  being  occasionally  touched  with  the  pick  or 
cold-chisel.  Hard  granite  stones  answer ;  here  they  use  a 
volcanic  stone,  which  is  as  hard  as  marble.  There  follows 
round  the  running  stones  a  little  piece  of  wood  that  keeps 
the  leaves  always  under  the  stones.  When  ground  fine 
enough,  it  is  sifted  or  bolted  in  a  large,  tight  room,  with, 
a  door  to  enter  and  fill  the  bags.  In  Sicily  the  article  is 
more  or  less  adulterated  with  spurious  stuff,  such  as  other 
kinds  of  leaves,  and  an  article  called  bucea,  which  resem- 
bles the  juniper  bush  of  New  England ;  this  has  no  value 
in  itself.  I  believe  the  first  year  they  do  not  cut  off  the 
sprouts.  In  the  second  and  following  years  a  curious  freak 
of  nature  produces  a  single  plant  a  foot  or  so  distant  from 
the ,  original  root ;  and  this  little  plant  it  is  which  they 
usually  make  use  of  to  transplant.  Now,  the  plough  or 
harrow  would  prevent  these  from  growing,  as  they  would 
be  in  the  track,  and  this  may  be  the  reason  why  they  hoe 
it.  Still,  I  think  the  plough  or  harrow  must  be  used  in 
our  country,  and  some  way  or  other  contrived  to  save  these 
little  plants  if  wanted." 

Vitace^.     (Vine  Tribe.) 

Vitis  bipinnata,  T.  and  G.  (Ampelopsis,  Mx.)  Margins  of 
swamps,  Florida,  and  northward ;  abundant,  bearing  black 
berries  in  bunches. 

Attracted  by  the  sweetish  taste  and  the  purplish  black 
hue  of  the  berries  of  this  plant,  which  is  closely  related  to 
the  grape,  I  succeeded  (1862)  in  extracting  a  beautiful 
dark  purple  by  the  following  process:  The  berries  were 
mashed  in  a  mortar,  vinegar  was  added,  with  a  small  quan- 
tity of  powdered  alum.     The  mixture  was  then  boiled,  and 


213 

the  yarn,  or  other  material,  previously  wrung  out  of  water, 
put  in  while  hot.  The  color  of  articles  dyed  is  said  to  be 
fixed  more  firmly  by  subsequently  dipping  them  when 
thoroughly  dried  in  boiling  salt  and  water. 

Vitis,  Grape. 

My  friend,  the  late  Major  John  Leconte,  in  a  paper  on 
the  "American  Grape  Vines  of  the  Atlantic  States,"  has 
given  the  conclusions  of  an  experienced  botanist  in  regard 
to  the  wild  species.  His  change  of  residence  North  and 
South  gave  him  a  good  opportunity  to  study  the  various 
species.  He  is  of  the  opinion  that  a  grape  adapted  to  the 
production  of  wine  in  the  Confederate  States  would  be  ill 
adapted  to  the  Northern  states,  which  are  colder,  and  less 
humid,  and  dry.  "  Thus,  the  Scuppernong  grape  can  never 
perfectly  ripen  north  of  Virginia,  and  the  fox  grapes  of  the 
North  will  scarcely  grow  in  the  lower  parts  of  Carolina  and 
Georgia;  the  Isabella,  or  Catawba  varieties  of  this  last, 
which  were  originally  brought  from  the  upper  regions  of 
South  Carolina,  do  not  flourish  in  the  low  country,  and  will 
scarcely  live  in  lower  Georgia."  To  remedy  the  want  of 
the  sweet  principle  in  a  grape,  nothing  more  is  necessary 
than  to  boil  down  the  must,  before  fermentation,  until  it  is 
considerably  reduced. 

Major  Leconte  considers  it  quite  possible  to  make  wine 
that  will  keep  without  alcohol ;  also,  that  our  American 
grapes  do  not  require  the  pruning  adopted  in  Europe. 
See  Patent  Office  Reports,  228,  1857,  for  a  critical  account 
of  the  species  of  grape  growing  in  the  Atlantic  states, 
and  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  under 
genus  "Vitis,"  for  grapes  exclusively  Southern.  "Bland's 
Grape,"  V.  palmata,  so  highly  praised  by  Major  Leconte, 
as  being  equal  to  any  variety  of  the  European  grape,  which 
he  says  grows  in  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina,  is  not 
included  by  Chapman  as  a  native.  It  is  the  V.  Virginiana 
of  Poiret. 

A  -writer  recommends  the  use  of  natural  caves  as  wine 
cellars.     Drs.  Gall  and  Petiol's  "Method  of  wine  making, 


214 

according  to  the  modern  principles  adopted  in  Germany 
and  France,"  is  published  in  Patent  Office  Reports,  1859, 
p.  95.  The  same  volume  also  describes  the  construction  of 
cellars  and  vats,  etc.  Gov.  Hammond,  of  S.  C,  has  had  a 
large  cellar  built  for  wines,  sugar  cane  juice,  etc.  These 
seem  to  me  essential. 

A  correspondent  says  that  foreign  grapes  must  be  laid  in 
straw  during  the  winter. 

H.  W.  Ravenel,  also  of  Aiken,  S.  C,  who  has  been  in- 
vestigating the  native  grape  with  his  known  ability  as  a 
botanist,  in  a  paper4  published  in  Patent  Office  Reports, 
1857,  gives  an  enumeration  of  our  four  American  species 
of  grapes  so  far  studied.  Under  these,  viz  :  V.  labrusca,  L., 
fox  grape,  V.  cestivalis,  Mx.,  summer  grape,  V.  cordifolia, 
Mx.,  winter  or  frost  grape,  Vulpina,  L.,  bull  grape,  or  Bui- 
lace,  he  classes  the  varieties  which  have  proceeded  from 
them.     The  V.  rupcstris  of  Scheele  is  found  in  Texas. 

Mr.  Ravenel  makes  a  statement  which  is  instructive: 
"All  the  species  of  American  grapes  are  dioecia  polygamous; 
that  is,  some  of  the  vines  bear  staminate  or  barren  flowers 
only,  and  are  forever  sterile ;  others  bear  perfect  flowers.* 
and  are  fruitful.  All  the  species  of  the  Eastern  hemisphere 
are  hermaphrodite ;  that  is,  every  vine  bears  perfect  flowers, 
containing  stamens  and  pistils  in  the  same  corolla,  and  are 
fruitful.  In  the  absence  of  other  evidence,  this  fact  would 
be  conclusive  of  the  parentage  of  an  unknown  seedling, 
whether  it  be  of  exotic  or  indigenous  origin."  The  varie- 
ties of  foreign  grapes  are  referred  to  a  single  species,  V. 
vinifera,  L. 

Professor  C.  T.  Jackson,  in  a  communication  in  Patent 
Office  Reports,  p.  42,  1859,  remarks,  in  reference  to  the  pre- 
servative power  of  sugar  in  making  wine,  as  follows  : 

"We  must  find  out  the  proportion  of  saccharine  or  alco- 
hol-producing matter  in  the  American  grapes,  for  if  they 
will  not  produce  alcohol  in  sufficient  proportions  to  keep 
the  wine  from  souring,  we  should  have  to  add  saccharine 
matter  in  some  form  to  make  a  sound  wine."  In  many 
portions  of  the  country,  it  is  found  necessary  to  add  sugar 


215 

to  wine.  Jacksou  says  that  those  grapes  "which  contain 
less  than  15  per  cent,  of  saccharine  matter  will  require 
sugar  or  alcoholic  spirit  to  be  added  to  them,  in  order  -to 
make  a  wine  that  will  keep."  See,  also,  notice  of  Prof. 
Wm.  Hume's  paper,  further  on,  and  Patent  Office  Reports, 
1859,  p.  59,  for  proportions  of  acids  and  sugar  in  American 
grapes,  cultivation  and  preparing  wine,  gathering  grapes, 
apparatus,  and  making  of  wine  in  detail,  p.  55,  et  seq. 

See  a  paper  with  full  description  and  mode  of  cultivation 
of  wine,  with  manufacture  of  wine  near  Cincinnati,  in 
Patent  Office  Reports,  1848,  pp.  6-14.  The  value  and 
amount  of  yield  per  acre  is  also  given  in  this  paper.  I 
will  extract  a  portion  of  it : 

Selecting  and  preparing  the  ground. — A  hill-side  with  a 
southern  aspect  is  preferred.  If  the  declivity  is  gentle,  it 
can  be  drained  by  sodded,  concave  avenues ;  but  if  too 
steep  for  that,  it  must  be  benched  or  terraced,  which  is 
more  expensive.  In  the  autumn  or  winter,  dig  or  trench 
the  ground  with  the  spade  all  over  two  feet  deep,  turning 
the  surface  under.  The  ground  will  be  mellowed  by  the 
frosts  of  winter. 

Planting. — Lay  off  the  ground  in  rows  three  by  six  feet ; 
put  down  a  stick,  twelve  or- fifteen  inches  long,  where  each 
vine  is  to  grow.  The  avenues  should  be  ten  feet  wide,  di- 
viding the  vinej-ard  into  squares  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet.  Plant  at  each  stick  two  cuttings,  separated  six  or 
eight  inches  at  the  bottom  of  the  hole,  but  joined  at  the 
top.  Throw  a  spadeful  of  rich,  vegetable  mould  into  each, 
hole,  and  let  the  top  eye  of  the  cutting  be  even  with  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  and  if  the  matter  is  dry,  cover  with, 
half  an  inch  of  light  earth.  The  cuttings  should  be  pre- 
pared for  planting  by  burying  them  in  the  earth  imme- 
diately after  pruned  from  the  vines  in  the  spring.  By  the 
latter  end  of  March,  or  early  in  April, ^which  is  the  right 
time  for  planting,  the  buds  will  be  swelled  so  as  to  make^ 
them  strike  root  with  great  certainty.  Cut  off  close  to  the: 
joint  at  the  lower  bud,  and  about  an  inch  in  all  above 
the  upper. 


216 

Pruning. — The  first  year  after  planting  cut  the  vine  d©wn 
to  a  single  eye  (some  leave  two),  the  second  leave  two  or 
three,  and  the  third  three  or  four.  After  the  first  year,  a 
stake,  six  and  a  half  or  seven  feet  long,  must  be  driven 
firmly  down  by  each  plant,  to  which  the  vines  must  be  kept 
neatly  tied  with  willow  or  straw  as  they  grow.  Late  in 
February,  or  early  in  March,  is  the  right  time  for  spring 
pruning  in  this  climate.  Summer  pruning  consists  in 
breaking  off  the  lateral  sprouts  and  shoots  so  as  to  leave 
two  strong  and  thrifty  canes  or  vines — one  of  which  is  to 
bear  fruit  the  ensuing  season,  the  other  to  be  cut  down  in 
spring  pruning  to  a  spur  to  produce  new  shoots.  These 
may  be  let  run  to  the  top  of  the  stakes,  and  trained  from 
one  to  the  other,  until  the  wood  is  matured,  say  in  August 
or  September,  when  the  green  ends  may  be  broken  off. 
One  of  these  vines  is  selected  next  spring  for  bearing  fruit, 
and'  cut  down  from  four  to  six  joints,  and  bent  over  and 
fastened  to  the  stake  in  the  form  of  a  bow.  The  other  is 
cut  away,  as  well  as  the  fruit-bearing  wood  of  the  last  year, 
leaving  spurs  to  throw  out  new  wood  for  the  next,  and  thus 
keeping  the  vine  down  to  within  one  and  a  half  to  two  feet 
of  the  ground.  Hip  off  the  ends  of  the  fruit-bearing 
branches  two  or  three  joints  be}7ond  the  branches  of 
grapes,  but  do  not  take  oft'  any  leaves.  If  both  the  cut- 
tings grow,  take  one  up,  or  cut  it  off  under  ground,  as  but 
one  vine  should  be  left  to  each  stake. 

Culture. — The  vineyard  must  be  kept  perfectly  clean  from 
weeds  and  grass,  and  hoed  under  two  or  three  times  during 
the  season.  Keep  the  grass  in  the  avenues  around  down 
close.  About  every  third  year  put  in  manure  by  a  trench 
the  width  of  a  spade,  and  three  or  four  inches  deep,  just 
above  and  near  each  row  ;  fill  in  with  two  or  three  inches 
of  manure,  and  cover,  it  up  with  earth. 

Wine  making. — Grather  the  grapes  when  very  ripe ;  pick 
off  the  unsound  and  unripe  berries.  The  bunches  are  then 
washed  in  a  wrashing-tub,  or  passed  through  a  small  mill, 
breaking  the  skin,  but  not  the  seed,  and  thrown  into  the 
press,  and  the  screw  applied  until  the  skins  and  seeds  are 
pressed  dry. 


217 

Fermentation. — This  process  is  very  simple.  The  juice  is 
put  into  clean  casks  in  a  cool  cellar,  and  the  casks  filled 
within  about  four  or  five  inches  of  the  bung,  and  the  bung 
put  on  loosely.  The  gas  escapes,  but  the  wine  does  not 
run  over.  In  two  to  four  weeks,  generally,  the  fermenta- 
tion ceases,  and  the  wine  clears;  then  fill  up  the  casks,  and 
tighten  the  bungs.  In  February  or  March  rack  off  into 
clean  casks.  In  the  spring  a  moderate  fermentation  will 
again  take  place ;  after  that  the  wine  fines  itself,  and  is 
ready  for  bottling  or  barrelling.  Use  no  brandy  or  sugar 
if  the  grapes  are  sound  and  well  ripened.  Keep  bunged  or 
corked  tight,  and  in  a  cool  cellar,  and  the  wine  will  im- 
prove by  age  for  many  years.  A  paper  on  "North  Carolina 
Grapes,"  p.  48,  may  be  consulted  in  Patent  Office  Report 
on  Agriculture,  1851.  It  gives  an  account  of  wine  made 
from  the  wild  fox  grape,  and  others,  and  discusses  some  of 
the  native  varieties.  Johnston's  Chemistry  of  Common 
Life,  vol.  2,  Chaptal's  Chemistry,  in  its  relations  with  Agri- 
culture, chapter  on  "Fermentation,"  Ure's  Dictionary  of 
Arts,  article  Wine,  "Fermentation,"  etc.,  may  be  consulted 
for  information  as  to  the  processes  of  wine  making.  See 
DeBow's  Review,  and  DeBow's  "Industrial  Resources  of 
the  South  and  "West,"  in  three  volumes,  for  articles  on  cul- 
tivation of  grape,  and  wine  making  at  the  South  ;  also, 
Patent  Office  Reports,  1859,  p.  72,  for  a  very  full  and 
detailed  account  of  cultivation  of  grape,  manufacture  of 
wine,  construction  of  vats  and  cellars,  by  Dr.  Weber, 
of  Washington.  I  regret  that  I  cannot  condense  this 
article. 

In  Missouri  and  Ohio  it  is  found  that  the  Catawba  grape, 
a  native  of  the  Atlantic  sea-coast,  is  liable  to  rot,  and  to  be 
affected  by  mildew.  A  writer  in  Patent  Office  Reports, 
.1854,  p.  453,  recommends  several  hardier  varieties,  viz: 
The  Halifax  (wine  mild  and  spicy),  Norton's  Virginia  seed- 
ling (wine  fiery  and  aromatic),  the  Roekhouse  Indian,  which 
is  said  to  produce  a  wine  not  inferior  to  the  best  Burgundy. 
The  writer  gives  some  directions  about  the  culture,  and 
adds:  "In  the  place  of  putting  the  'bung  loosely'  on  your 


218 

casks  during  fermentation,  put  on  the  bung-hole  first  a 
grape  leaf,  and  upon  that  a  small  bag  filled  with  fine  and 
not  quite  dry  sand.  In  good  cellars,  and  large  casks  your 
wine  will,  and  must  not  clear  in  less  than  six  or  eight 
weeks.  Rack  off  in  March,  then  again  in  midsummer,  and 
again  just  before  the  time  of  the  next  harvest.  Before 
every  racking,  have  your  cask  well  sulphurated.  Then 
your  juice  is  real  wine  and  may  be  bottled;  it  will  keep  as 
long  as  you  please,  and  improve  considerably  for  a  series 
of  years."  I  introduce  the  above,  as  it  seems  to  contain 
some  practical  directions. 

The  "rot"  in  grapes  is  caused  by  an  excess  of  moisture 
about  the  roots,  and  moist  and  damp  weather.  Vineyards 
located  upon  "still,  cold,  clayey  subsoils,  which  unavoidably 
retain  the  excess  of  moisture  and  produce  injurious  effects, 
can  be  obviated  by  thorough  draining,  or  by  selecting  soil 
which  is  warmer,  lighter,  and  richer  in  the  ingredient  most 
favorable  to  the  vine." 

The  "mildew"  is  often  a  most  serious  cause  of  disease  in 
grapes,  extending  over  entire  sections  of  country,  as  almost 
to  discourage  the  cultivation.  It  is  considered  to  be  a  para- 
sitic fungus.  See  a  paper  on  this  subject  in  Patent  Office 
Reports,  1854,  p.  311,  by  J.  F.  Allen,  of  Mass.  In  the  New 
England  states  the  presence  or  absence  of  this  fungus 
depends  upon  the  condition  of  the  weather,  and  the 
progress  in  maturity  of  the  vine  in  August  and  July. 
There  the  fungus  appears  during  foggy  weather,  resem- 
bling a  white  mould.  In  Reports  for  1853,  p.  311,  an 
engraved  illustration  is  given  of  this  mildew  fungus. 
"When  a  grape  becomes  affected  by  it,  the  fruit  will  either 
dry  or  crack  open,  unless  checked  or  destroyed  before  it 
makes  much  progress.  The  so  called  disease  is  a  living 
plant,  most  rapid  in  its  growth,  and  wonderful  in  its  powers 
of  reproduction  and  multiplication.  When  a  vine  has  once 
been  infected  by  it,  the  seeds  or  sporules  in  countless  mil- 
lions lie  waiting  a  favorable  atmospheric  change  to  spring 
into  life ;  and  when  this  does  occur,  so  rapid  is  their 
growth  that  in  one  day  the  under  side  of  the  leaf  will  be 


219 

almost  covered."  The  plan  of  dusting  the  leaves  with  sul- 
phur is  impracticable.  The  writer  says  he  has  found  a 
wash  quite  effectual  in  destroying  this  fungus,  and  it  can 
be  applied  on  a  large  scale  with  the  garden  engine ;  on  a 
smaller,  by  the  syringe  or  the  nose  of  a  watering-pot. 

"To  prepare  this  wash,  take  one  peck  of  lime,  not  slaked, 
and  one  pound  of  sulphur;  put  them  together  in  a  barrel, 
and  pour  hot  water  over  them  sufficient  to  slake  the  lime; 
pour  on  this  three  gallons  of  soft  water,  and  stir  the  mix- 
ture well  together.  In  twenty-four  hours  it  will  have  set- 
tled and  become  perfectly  clear.  This  should  be  drawn  off 
as  clear  as  possible.  Half  a  pint  of  this  mixture  added  to 
three  gallons  of  water  will  be  sufficiently  strong,  and  may 
be  applied  over  the  fruit  when  mildew  first  appears.  It 
can  be  repeated  every  few  days,  if  occasion  requires.-  The 
first  application  I  have  found  would  kill  the  most  of  it;  a 
second  and  third  are  all  that  I  have  ever  found  neces- 
sary for  the  season.  The  fruit  and  foliage  have  ripened 
fully  on  the  European  varieties.  The  American  or  native 
varieties  are  less  subject  to  the  attacks  of  this  fungus  than 
the  European.  There  is  also  a  difference  in  these,  the 
Catawba  and  Isabella  being  more  attacked  than  some  other 
kinds.  That  this  mildew  or  fungus  requires  a  peculiar  con- 
dition of  the  atmosphere  to  allow  of  its  vegetating  is  a 
hopeful  fact  for  the  people  of  the  European  grape-growing 
regions.  A  series  of  seasons  unpropitious  to  its  growth 
may  destroy  millions  of  sporules  or  seed  vessels  deposited 
upon  their  vineyards." 

I  have  seen  grapes  attacked  with  a  disease,  an  apparent 
blackening  or  rot  of  the  internal  portion  of  the  fruit,  which 
had  never  been  attacked  until  the  arbor  was  covered  over, 
and  thus  the  requisite  amount  of  light  was  diminished.  In 
this  case  they  become  diseased  from  too  much  shade  and 
moisture,  and  the  remedy  is  plain. 

Wilson  in  his  Rural  Cyc.  furnishes  from  several  sources 
recipes  in  his  article  on  "Wine"  for  making  "Wine  from 
the  leaves,  tender  shoots,  and  tendrils  of  the  vine;  if  judiciously 
prepared,  it  is  so  excellent  that  Mr.  MacCulloch  compared 


220 

it  to  'white  hermitage. ' '  See,  also,  MacCulloch's  Treatise 
on  Wine  making.  Excellent  wine  is  also  prepared  from 
the  unripe  berries,  he.  tit,  where  the  method  is  given. 
It  is  as  follows:  the  claret  vine  leaves,  as  he  observes,  will 
produce  a  red  color,  and  this  tree  could  be  cultivated  for 
the  express  purpose.  Having  repeatedly  prepared  red  and 
white  leaf  wine,  we  can  with  the  greater  confidence  offer  a 
few  abbreviated  extracts  from  Mr.  MacCulloch's  book,  pre- 
viously observing  that  the  specific  gravity  of  the  liquor 
must  here  also  be  taken  as  the  criterion  of  strength;  the 
proportions  are  calculated  for  ten  gallons  of  wine.  The 
leaves  should  not  have  attained  their  full  growth,  and  must 
be  plucked  with  their  stems.  On  forty  or  fifty  pounds  of 
such  leaves,  seven  or  eight  gallons  of  boiling  water  are 
poured,  in  which  they  are  to  infuse  for  twenty-four  hours; 
the  liquor  being  then  strained  off,  the  leaves  are  to  be 
forcibly  pressed.  A  gallon  more  water  is  to  be  added,  and 
the  leaves  again  are  to  be  pressed.  A  screw  wTine-press 
with  hair  bags,  is  very  useful  in  the  process.  Sugar,  vary- 
ing from  twenty-five  pounds  to  thirty  pounds,  is  then  to  be 
added  to  the  mixed  liquors;  the  quantity  is  to  be  made  up 
to  ten  gallons  and  a  half.  Such  are  the  essentials  of  Mr. 
MacCulloch's  directions.  We  need  only  add,  continues  the 
editor,  that  if  a  fermenting,  lively  wine  be  contemplated,  the 
manufacture  must  be  conducted  as  in  the  process  for  Cham- 
pagne, and  the  smaller  of  the  two  proportions  of  the  leaves, 
etc.,  is  to  be  employed.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  must 
should  be  1.110  to  1.115.  The  fermentation  must  be  car- 
ried on  for  a  short  time  in  the  open  vessel,  or  till  the  gravity 
be  reduced  to  1.090 ;  and  the  barrel  will  require  to  be  filled, 
and  be  kept  full,  in  order  to  carry  off  the  froth  and  leaven 
that  rise  to  the  top  of  the  liquor.  But  we  apprehend  that 
grape  leaves  are  better  qualified  to  produce  a  dry  wine,  and 
therefore  the  larger  proportion  of  leaves,  etc.,  should  be 
employed,  and  sugar  to  the  extent  that  will  raise  the 
gravity  to  1.120.  In  this  case  the  fermentation  must  be 
conducted  in  the  manner  already  stated  for  the  production 
of  a  dry  wine  from  green  grapes ;  and  when  perfected,  and 


221 

the  wine  becomes  bright,  it  is  to  be  fined  and  racked  oft' 
during  clear  and  cold  weather,  then  returned  to  a  clean 
and  sweet  cask,  and  bunged  close.  A  second  fining  and 
racking  may  be  required.  Grape  wine  made  from  the 
green  berries,  we  have  found  delicious  in  flavor,  and  quite 
fit  for  the  table  in  two  years  or  less.  But  the  liquor 
obtained  from  the  leaves  contains  a  quantity  of  vegetable 
extract  which  conveys  a  flavor  that  time  alone  can  sub- 
due ;  hence,  we  recommend,  the  author  adds,  that  it  b^ 
always  retained  two  years  in  the  cask,  and  be  bottled  in 
the  second  winter.  It  ought,  also,  to  remain  during  one 
entire  year  in  the  bottles.  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc,  art. 
"Wine." 

The  following  brief  statement  of  the  mode  of  making 
wine,  by  J.  S.  Reid,  of  Fayette  county,  Ind.,  appears  so 
simple,  that  I  quote  it  here.     (See  P.  0.  Rep.  1855,  p.  308): 

"The  mode  adopted  by  me  of  making  wine  is  as  fol- 
lows :  From  the  1st  to  the  15th  of  October,  I  continue 
pulling  the  grapes,  always  selecting  the  ripest  ones  first,  and 
after  mashing  them  in  a  tub  made  for  the  purpose,  subject 
them  to  a  small  press  made  in  the  form  of  a  cider-press. 
The  barrels  into  which  the  juice  is  put  are  well  washed 
with  cold  water,  dried,  and  fumigated  with  sulphur  before 
the  must  is  put  into  them.  I  then  place  over  the  bung-hole 
a  piece  of  tin  or  sheet-iron  perforated  with  small  holes. 
The  must  is  then  allowed  to  ferment  slowly  for  about 
three  we*eks,  until  the  scum  caused  by  the  fermentation 
apparently  ceases.  The  barrels  are  then  filled,  and  bunged 
tight  until  spring,  when  I  rack  the  wine  off"  into  clear 
casks,  washed  out  with  cold  water  and  juniper  berries,  and 
fumigated  with  sulphur  as  before,  to  destroy  any  bad 
flavor.  It  is  then  ready  for  market ;  but  during  this  time 
the  casks  require  to  be  frequently  examined,  and  filled  up, 
keeping  them  always  full  to  the  bung."  The  reader  can 
find  in  the  Patent  Office  Reports  of  1855,  p.  304,  a  brief 
statement  by  D.  Ponce,  of  Hancock  county,  Ga.,  of  the 
method  of  making  Champagne  wine  in  France. 

Dr.  Wm.  Hume,  Professor  in  the  State  Military  Acad- 


222 

emy  of  South  Carolina,  read  a  paper  before  the  South 
Carolina  Medical  Association,  on  the  "Manufacture  of 
Wines  in  the  South,"  which  has  been  published  in  De- 
Bow's  Review,  March  and  April,  1862.  It  is  a  well  writ- 
ten article,  giving  the  results  of  experiments,  containing 
an  exposition  of  a  plan  to  obviate  the  disabilities  of  climate 
opposed  to  the  manufacture  of  wine  in  South  Carolina. 

In  brief,  Prof.  Hume  advises  that  the  two  qualities  of 
sweetness  and  acidity  in  wines  (which  vary  in  different 
varieties  and  at  different  seasons)  should  be  ascertained 
and  considered  b}^  the  wine  maker.  The  latest  date  com- 
patible with  the  full  and  perfect  maturation  of  the  grape 
should  be  selected  for  gathering,  so  that  they  should  be  as 
little  acid  and  contain  as  much  sugar  as  possible. 

Cellars  should  be  constructed  in  order  to  prevent  acidity 
during  fermentation,  and  if  necessary  alcohol,  brandy,  or 
whiskey  should  be  added,  to  preserve  the  preparation  from 
turning  sour,  and  also  to  procure  different  varieties  of  wine. 
I  would  refer  the  reader  to  the  articles  for  an  agreeable 
and  forcible  exposition  of  the  author's  views.  He  rejects 
the  idea  that  it  is  useless  or  improper  to  modify  the  juice 
of  the  grape  by  alcohol  under  its  various  forms.  Many 
wines  are  to  a  certain  extent  factitious,  but  not  adulterated. 
The  writer  says:  "I  have  clearly  shown  that  the  purely 
manufactured  wines  of  Aiken  are  either  too  acid  or  too 
weak  in  spirit — that  these  defects  proceed  from  immaturity 
of  the  grape,  and  from  the  high  temperature  of  the  must 
during  fermentation.  The  high  temperature  induces  two 
evils  which  are  injurious  to  wine,  viz:  the  loss  of  alcohol 
by  its  conversion  into  acetic  acid,  and  its  loss,  by  more 
rapid  evaporation  during  the  exposure  of  fermentation." 
Cool  cellars'  are  certainly  one  obvious  desideratum.  The 
addition  of  alcohol  to  wine  as  a  preservative  agent  has 
been  referred  to  by  writers:  "The  object  and  intention 
of  adding  alcohol  to  recent  grape  juice  is  to  preserve  it 
through  the  months  of  August,  September,  and  October 
unchanged  by  fermentation.  During  the  month  of  No- 
vember the   cool  weather  is   sufficiently  established,  and 


223 

continues  in  Aiken  to  conduct  the  vinous  fermentation 
without  the  apprehension  of  the  acetic ;  hence  wine,  not 
vinegar,  can  then  be  made."     (Hume). 

The  reader  can  find  a  good  account  of  fermentation  and 
the  rationale  of  manufacture  of  various  liquors  in  Solly's 
Rural  Chemistry,  p.  164,  et  seq.  Drs.  Gall  and  Petiol 
also  refer  to  the  process  of  "ameliorating"  the  wine 
made  from  the  wild  grapes  by  the  free  addition  of  sugar 
dissolved  in  water,  adding  also  tartaric  acid  if  the  acid  is 
deficient.  The  husks  or  pomace  which  remains  is  again 
treated  with  sugar,  water,  or  acid  as  long  as  any  wine 
extract  remains,  and  so  an  enormous  amount  of  wine  is 
made  at  small  cost.  In  this  process  the  grapes  are  mash- 
ed, not  pressed.  See  details,  P.  0.  Rep.,  1859,  p.  97. 
Tables  for  calculating  the  acid  and  sugar  are  described. 
I  regret  not  being  able  to  give  this  method  in  full. 

In  connection  with  Prof.  Hume's  project  of  adding 
alcohol  to  wine,  I  extract  the  following  from  an  article  on 
the  "Grape  and  Wine  culture  in  California,"  P.  0.  Rep., 
1858,  p.  342.  "Angelica  is  a  sweet  wine,  which  is  never 
allowed  to  ferment.  It  is  made  by  adding  brandy  to  white 
wine,  which  is  the  first  and  purest  juice  that  runs  from  the 
press,  in  the  ratio  of  one  to  three,  as  it  comes  from  the 
press.  It  is  thus  kept  from  fermentation,  arid  always  remains 
sweet.  It  is  immediately  put  into  close  casks,  and  drawn 
off  as  soon  as  it  is  clear,  which  is  generally  within  four  or 
five  weeks.  The  casks  for  Angelica  wine  have  to  be  pre- 
pared with  great  care  by  sulphuring.  "Aguadiente" 
(brandy)  only  can  be  used  in  making  Angelica,  as  it  has 
the  true  grape  flavor,  which  most  other  brandies  have  not. 
This  brandy  is  distilled  from  wine  made  from  leaves  or 
from  the  pomace  (skins  of  the  grapes)  of  the  pressed 
grapes.  It  takes  about  five  gallons  of  wine  to  make  one 
of  aguadiente."  By  this  it  will  also  be  seen  that  the 
shape  in  which  the  alcohol  is  added  is  material.  Let  us 
compare  the  following  with  our  difficulties  here  in  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia.  Italics  are  my  own.  Matthew 
Keller,  of  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  says:  "The  manufacture  of 


224 

wine,  in  a  suitable  climate,  is  simple,  and  may  be  done  by 
any  one  of  ordinary  intelligence.  Bat  when  the  climate  and 
soil  are  not  adapted  to  the  nature  of  the- grape,  then,  indeed, 
it  becomes  a  complicated  art.  '  One  of  the  most  essential 
things  to  be  observed  in  its  manufacture  is  the  proper 
regulation  of  temperature,  particularly  during  the  phe- 
nomenon of  the  first  fermentation  ;  and  to  this  the  least 
attention  is  paid.  If  the  must  is  too  cool,  the  fermen- 
tation is  slow,  and  apt  to  sour;  while  if  there  is  too  much 
heat,  it  will  soon  go  into  the  acetous  state.  Must  which 
abounds  in  saccharine  matter,  and  is  deficient  in  ferment, 
requires  a  higher  degree  o.f  temperature  than  that  which 
has  these  substances  in  opposite  proportions.  The  strong- 
est must,  even  when  it  contains  much  ferment,  can  sup- 
port a  higher  temperature  than  the  weak,  because  the 
great  quantity  of  alcohol  which  is  developed  retards 
the  action  of  the  ferment,  and  prevents  the  tendency  to 
pass  to  the  acetous  fermentation.  The  best  general  tem- 
perature is  between  62°  and  64°  Fahrenheit.  There  is  little 
difficulty  in  maintaining  the  temperature  in  a  cellar,  but  it 
may  be  observed  that  the  act  of  fermentation  elevates  the 
temperature.  To  arrive  at  that  which  is  the  most  con- 
venient, it  is  necessary  to  pay  attention  to  the  temperature 
of  the  grapes  at  the  time  of  mashing  them:  if  picked 
early  in  the  morning  or  at  noon,  it  varies  many  degrees. 
To  obviate  this,  they  may  be  picked  a  day  in  advance,  or 
they  should  be  cooled  in  a  large  vat,  and  vice  versa.  These 
few  facts  comprehend  ali  that  is  necessary  to  make  wine, 
but  they  are  subject  to  many  variations  and  much  detail, 
like  most  other  processes  of  manufacture."  The  necessity 
for  the  display  of  judgment,  and  the  value  of  experience 
in  modifying  processes,  is  true  of  the  manufacture  of  in- 
digo, of  sugar  from  the  different  variety  of  canes,  etc.  ~$o 
rigid  rules  adapted  to  every  climate  can  be  depended  upon. 
That  vats  should  be  essential,  I  myself,  without  experience, 
felt  sure  from  seeing  their  necessity  in  keeping  porter  and 
ale  in  Charleston,  or  cider  in  the  upper  country.  We  do 
not  manufacture  any  of  them  in  Charleston,  but  in  order 


225 

to  bottle  or  keep  them  under  favorable  circumstances,   a 
cool  cellar  is  essential. 

The  writer  quoted  above  gives  the  method  of  making 
wine  in  Los  Angeles,  as  follows:  "The  grapes  are  deprived 
of  their  stems  by  hand;  they  are  then  mashed  between 
wooden  or  iron  rollers;  some  tread  them  out  in  the  an- 
cient style.  A  portion  of  the  juice  runs  into  a  cooling-vat, 
without  pressing;  the  crushed  grapes  are  put  into  a  screw- 
press  and  forced  out  rapidly,  all  the  result  being  must  for 
white  wine.  As  the  grapes  are  black,  and  the  coloring  mat- 
ter exists  only  in  the  skin,  and  requires  in  some  degree  the 
presence  of  alcohol  to  dissolve  it,  if  the  pressing  be  done 
quickly  the  wine  will  be  white ;  but  if  slowly,  or  if  the 
grapes  come  broken  from  the  vineyard,  the  must  will  show 
color;  for  as  soon  as  the  fruit  is  broken,  and  the  juice 
comes  in  contact  with  the  air,  fermentation  commences, 
and  simultaneous  with  it,  the  presence  of  alcohol,  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  which  extracts  the  coloring  matter. 
The  must  is  then  transferred  into  the  fermenting  tuns, 
and  the  first  active  fermentation  goes  on,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances, for  from  four  to  ten  days.  The  mashed  grapes 
are  put  into  vats  to  ferment,  from  which  results  red  wine. 
This  is  in  part  distilled  into  brandy.  Some  persons  distil 
red  wine  with  the  "marc"  into  brandy  immediately  after 
fermentation,  but  if  left  to  pass  a  secondary  fermentation 
it  would  yield  more  alcohol.  The  wine  is  racked  off  in 
January  and  February,  again  in  March  and  April,  and  for 
the  third  time  in  September.  It  should  be  taken  oif  the 
lees  after  the  first  fermentation  subsides,  when  the  wine  has 
settled:  for  it  cannot  gain  anything  by  being  allowed  to 
stand  on  the  lees  longer  than  is  absolutely  necessary.  The 
proportions  of  saccharine  matter  and  ferment  in  our  grapes  are 
well  balanced,  therefore  there  is  no  extraordinary  art  in 
making  wine;  as  it  will  make  itself  with  common  care, 
and  without  the  addition  of  any  extraneous  substance. 
The  purest  and  finest  wines  in  the  world  are  made  from 
the  juice  of  the  grape  alone  (?)  More  capital  is  needed  to 
make  proper  cellars,  procure  necessary  materials,  and  to 
15 


226 

enable  us  to  hold  our  wines  till  they  have  age,  when  they 
would  compare  favorably  with  the  best.  See  also  P.  O. 
Rep.,  1859,  p.  94,  et  seq.;  also  an  extended  account  of 
grape  culture  and  wine  manufacture,  with  wood-cuts  of 
presses,  etc.,  in  Report  1856,  p.  408,  by  J.  A.  Warder,  M. 
D.,  of  Ohio.  The  diseases  affecting  the  grape  are  also  de- 
scribed. 

I  obtain  the  following  from  the  Southern  Field  and  Fire- 
side : 

Although  this  subject  has  been  widely  discussed,  and 
hundreds  of  methods  recommended,  still  I  see  no  satis- 
factory article  written  which  has  treated  this  question  as  to 
our  Southern  grapes  and  climate.  Almost  all  the  writers 
have  confined  themselves  to  the  Northern  and  Western 
wines  and  their  modes  of  production,  leaving  out  the  idea 
that  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  South  Carolina  had  more 
resources  for  wine  producing  than  all  the  North  and  West 
combined,  not  speaking  of  the  immensely  superior  quality 
of  its  products.  I  trust  that  the  following  hints  may  be  of 
service  to  some  beginners,  and  be  auxiliary  to  many  .masters 
in  the  art. 

There  exist  a  large  number  of  varieties  of  wine,  differing 
among  themselves  by  the  color,  perfume,  taste,  consistence, 
etc.,  and  often  many  such  varieties  are  produced  bj^  the  same 
grape.  Often  those  varieties  of  wine  depend  upon  many 
circumstances  —  such  as  difference  in  soil  and  subsoil, 
exposure,  mode  of  cultivation,  climatic  influence,  degree  of 
maturity  of  the  fruit  when  pressed,  and  above  all,  by  the 
mode  of  making  the  wine.  The  first  process  is  the  gather- 
ing of  the  grapes,  and  this  should  be  one  of  the  most 
careful.  The  grapes  should  be  thoroughly  ripe,  and  the 
best  signs  of  maturity  are  these :  The  stem  of  the  clusters 
changes  to  brown,  the  berries  become  soft,  and  when  the 
bloom  is  removed  the  skin  is  smooth  and  nearly  trans- 
parent, the  flavor  is  vinous  sweet," and  the  seeds  free  from 
the  pulp  and  dry.  At  this  point  the  grapes  should  be 
gathered.  If  gathered  sooner  the  wine  will  be  of  an  infe- 
rior quality,  and  apt  to  form  vinegar;  if  later,  the  wine 


227 

will  be  less  in  quantity  and  syrup-like.  When  the  grapes 
have  attained  the  right  period  of  maturity,  select  a  dry, 
clear  day,  and  do  not  begin  the  gathering  until  the  dew  is 
well  evaporated,  and  the  grapes  perfectly  dry.  Use  sharp 
knives  or  scissors,  and  remove  all  green  and  decayed  ber- 
ries from  the  branches,  and  put  them  in  clean  wooden 
pails  :  then,  if  the  press  is  some  distance  from  the  vineyard, 
put  them  in  wooden  tubs,  which  must  not  be  too  large,  so 
as  not  to  be  difficult  to  handle,  and  transport  by  wagon. 
Now  it  is  necessary  to  give  some  remarks  upon  the  process 
to  be  followed  according  to  the  mode  of  wine  to  be  pro- 
duced, and  to  the  variety  of  grape  employed.  Our  native 
grapes  ot  the  Labrusca  or  fox  type  are  mostly  cultivated 
in  this  section  of  the  country,  and  the  wine  they  produce 
is  of  the  Hock  or  Rhine  wine  order.  The  great  value  of 
that  wine  consists  in  its  delicate  aroma,  or  bouquet,  and  to 
attain  it  must  be  an  essential  object  in  its  making.  To  this 
class  belong  the  Catawba,  Isabella,  Diana,  Delaware,  etc., 
etc.,  the  former  of  which  being  most  generally  cultivated. 
I  will  describe  the  process  in  its  best  manufacture. 

When  the  grapes  are  gathered  they  must  be  mashed  be- 
tween wooden  rollers.  The  juice  is  received  in  a  clean 
cask  or  vat,  but  the  hulls,  seeds,  or  stems  are  carefully 
avoided  to  come  into  contact  with  the  juice.  After  the 
whole  is  mashed  it  is  pressed.  The  juice  which  runs  out  at 
the  time  of  mashing  should  be  kept  separate  from  the  juice 
which  comes  from  the  pressing,  as  the  former  will  make  a 
wine  much  more  delicate  than  the  latter.  The  pressed 
juice  will  be  of  a  marked  color.  The  casks  or  vats  should 
be  of  as  large  size  as  consistent  with  the  quantity  of  the 
crops.  They  should  be  made  of  the  best  white  oak,  with 
strong  iron  hoops.  The  greatest  cleanliness  is  necessary. 
Wash  the  casks  well,  and  further  fumigate  them  by  burn- 
ing a  wTick  of  sulphur,  and  keeping  the  bung  closed. 
Avoid  sulphuring  too  much,  as  it  will  give  a  bad  flavor  to 
the  wine  if  done  to  excess.  Fill  the  cask  full,  then  close  it 
with  a  tight  bung,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  fitted  a  siphon, 
the  lowTer  end  of  which  rests  in  a  vessel  filled  with  water. 


228 

The  juice  of  the  Catawba,  as  well  as  that  of  all  the  grapes 
of  that  class,  should  never  be  fermented  upon  the  hulls, 
as  it  then  loses  its  delicate  flavor,  and  only  produces  a  harsh 
wine  —  neither  a  hock  nor  a  claret.  The  above  method 
is  also  applicable  to  the  juice  of  any  grapes  of  which  a 
a  white  or  pale  wine  is  desired.  Juice  thus  treated  should 
be  left  in  the  cask  until  the  following  spring,  after  the 
blossoming  of  the  vine,  at  which  period  it  will  undergo 
a  slight  fermentation.  It  can  then  be  drawn  off  in  clean 
casks  of  required  size  for  market,  or  in  bottles  ;  but  it  will 
be  to  its  advantage  to  leave  the  wine  in  casks  for  two  or 
three  yesirs  before  bottling. 

The  process  of  making  red  wine  is  different  —  the 
grapes  being  mashed,  with  hulls,  seeds,  etc.,  in  a  ferment- 
ing-vat  (a  cask  having  one.  head  taken  out  will  .answer  for  a 
small  vintage).  A  faucet  is  put  at  about  eight  or  twelve 
inches  from  the  bottom;  usually  a  bunch  of  cuttings  is 
placed  in  the  interior  to  keep  it  free  from  the  seeds,  etc.,  in 
drawing  off,  leaving  a  space  five  or  six  inches  between  the 
must  and  the  lid,  which  is  well  fastened,  and  has  also  a 
valve  for  the  evaporation  of  the  gas.  This  may  be  also 
arranged  with  a  siphon,  as  in  the  manipulation  of  the 
white  wine,  the  end  of  which  siphon  must  rest  in  water. 
In  a  few  hours  after  the  must  has  been  put  in  the  vat  the 
liquid  will  commence  to  ferment,  the  gas  will  be  thrown  off 
in  large  quantities,  and  bring  upon  the  surface  the  stems, 
hulls,  and  seeds,  which  form  what  the  French  term  chap- 
eau  (hat).  This  mass  is  often  very  consistent.  As  soon 
as  the  chapemi  shows  signs  of  going  to  pieces  is  the  time  to 
draw  off  the  wine  from  the  vat.  The  residuum  is  then 
pressed,  and  generally  makes  a  wine  containing  much  tan- 
nin, and  not  as  delicate  as  the  wine  first  drawn.  The  latter 
wine  is  kept  separate,  or  mixed  with  the  other  wine,  as 
desired.  As  soon  as  the  wine  is  drawn  in  clean  casks  put 
the  bung  in  lightly  for  a  few  days,  then  bung  it  tight.  A 
still  easier  method  is  to  put  a  false  bottom  in  the  ferment- 
ing-vat,  which  is  made  from  well  seasoned  wood,  and  holes 
bored  all  over.     This  false  bottom  is  put  upon  the  hulls  to 


229 

prevent  their  rising.  Its  position  must  be  regulated  by  the 
amount  of  pomace  in  the  vat,  and  kept  steady  by  sticks. 
The  vat  is  covered  as  before  with  a  tight  head  and  siphon, 
and  the  period  of  the  drawing  off  the  wine  is  visible  when 
the  fermentation  ceases.  In  general,  the  fermentation  will 
last  from  eight  to  twelve  days.  This  method  is  applicable 
to  all  the  colored  grapes  of  the  aestivalis,  or  summer  grape 
type — such  as  Lenoir,  Clinton,  Jacques,  etc.  The  cellar 
should  be  dry,  and  of  an  even  temperature  of  about  fifty 
to  sixty  degrees.  After  the  young  red  wine  is  put  into  the 
cellar  it  will  undergo  a  light  fermentation.  The  casks  have 
to  be  filled  occasional!}^,  and  kept  full  to  the  bung.  As 
soon  as  dissolution  of  the  sugar  and  the  other  constituents 
of  the  wine  has  taken  place,  the  undissolved  matter  will 
settle  at  the  bottom,  and  is  called  lees.  When  the  wine 
becomes  quiet  and  settled,  it  is  time  to  draw  it  off  in  clean 
casks.  In  the  above  remarks  I  have  endeavored  to  com- 
press the  wTine-making  to  a  small  compass,  by  which  it  will 
be  seen  that  it  is  far  less  complicated  than  presumed.  I 
give  the  different  wines  obtained  from  our  native  grapes. 

Varieties  belonging  to  the  Vitis  labrusca,  or  fox  grape : 

Catawba.  A  light  colored  hock,  often  equal  to  the  cele- 
brated Rhine  wines. 

Diana.  Also  a  light  colored  wine,  much  more  delicate 
than  Catawba. 

Delaware.  From  small  experiments  yields  a  wine  of  the 
muscatel  class,  remarkably  rich,  and  very  often  makes  a 
beautiful,  sparkling  wine. 

Isabella.  Makes  a  wune  of  a  pale  red  color,  if  fermented 
upon  the  juice,  and  a  darker  wine  of  a  claret  order  if  fer- 
fermented  upon  the  hulls. 

Hartford  prolific,  and  Concord.  A  dark,  harsh  wine. 
These  varieties  are  not  well  calculated  for  wine. 

Varieties  belonging  to  Vitis  aestivalis,  or  summer  grape: 

Clinton.  Makes  a  high-bodied  Avine  of  the  claret  order. 
This  variety  is  destined  to  be  relied  upon  as  our  red  wine 
grape  at  no  distant  period. 

Jacques.    Gives  a  very  dark  wine  of  the  Burgundy  order. 


230 

Its  juice  can  be  manipulated  as  for  white  wines — there 
being  a  large  amount  of  coloring  matter  in  the  juice. 

Lenoir  with  Clinton.     Will  give  a  delicate  claret  or  port. 

Warren.     Makes  a  wine  of  the  Madeira  class. 

Pauline.     Somewhat  similar  to  above. 

Taylor,  or  Ballet.  A  white  variety  of  the  Clinton,  and 
doubtless  will  soon  be  our  standing,  or  white  Wine  variety. 

The  Scup-pernong.  A  variety  of  Viiis  cordifolia.  Yields  a 
wine  of  the  muscat  order,  but  unfortunately  sugar  and 
alcohol  are  too  generally  added,  and  thereby  a  good  wine 
is  spoiled. 

Many  other  varieties  Of  our  native  grapes  will  soon  be 
experimented  upon  as  to  the  wine-making  qualities ;  but 
with  the  above  list  we  can  obtain  almost  all  the  classes  and 
colors  of  wines  that  are  imported  in  this  country. 

In  Spartanburg  district,  S.  C,  they  make  out  of  the  gar- 
den grape  a  very  pleasant  wine,  which  is  pure  juice  of  the 
grape,  by  the  following  simple  process : 

Squeeze  the  grapes  through  a  bag ;  to  each  gallon  of 
juice  put  one  pound  of  sugar  (more  may  be  added);  set  it 
away  in  jars  or  casks  for  two  or  three  days,  occasionally 
skimming  off  all  the  supernatant  froth,  scum,  etc.  Then 
strain  into  a  cask,  adding  some  honey  and  brandy.  A  gal- 
lon of  brandy  may  be  added  to  twelve  gallons  of  juice. 
This  wine  is  said  to  equal  the  best  quality.  Very  good 
wine  is  also  made  by  adding  sugar  and  brandy  to  apple 
cider. 

"  C.  "W,  B.,"  a  correspondent  of  the  Southern  Field  -and 
Fireside,  writes  as  follows  : 

Cultivation  of  Grapes. — Growing  Scuppernong  grapes  in 
the  South  is  easy,  pleasant,  and  very  valuable.  My  plan  is 
this :  In  February  take  the  vines  that  you  have  rooted  the 
previous  year,  and  set  them  in  some  place  where  you  want 
them,  say  in  rows  ten  feet  each  way,  with  some  convenient 
place  for  them  to  spread  their  branches  on,  and  soon  erect 
a  good  arbor  to  each  one,  and  if  they  are  well  treated  they 
will  soon  cover  the.  whole  field.  The  best  land  for  this  vine 
is  light,  sandy  soil,  and  the  best  manure  is  grass,  or  weeds, 


231 

hoed  up  when  green  and  put  under  the  arbor;  also,  rotten 
wood,  such  as  old  boards,  rails,  sticks,  etc.,  piled  under  the 
vines.  It  is  also  good  to  have  a  pen  around  the  roots  filled 
with  all  the  scrap  leather,  old  shoes,  bones,  brickbats,  etc. 
When  the  vines  begin  to  grow  they  must  be  pruned  every 
spring,  for  the  tendrils  will  wrap  around  the  branches,  and 
when  the  branches  grow  large,  die,  or  break  off,  it  will  in- 
jure the  vine  very  much  ;  but  when  they  get  old  a  large 
vineyard  would  require  a  great  deal  of  labor,  so  this  part 
generally  receives  but  little  attention  when  the  vineyard  is 
old.  This  grape  is  not  only  useful  to  preserve  and  pleasant 
to  eat,  but  the  most  delicious  wine  can  be  made  from  them. 
When  they  are  fully  ripe  gather  them,  and  they  can  be 
ground  in  a  gridder,  or  if  that  is  not  convenient,  mash 
them  in  a  trough ;  then  press  them  well,  putting  three- 
quarters  of  a  pound  or  a  pound  of  sugar  to  the  gallon  ;  in 
this  every  one  is  to  be  governed  by  his  own  taste.  When 
well  sweetened,  put  it  in  casks  and  draw  it  off  from  one  to 
another,  until  it  is  purified;  then  bung  it  very  tightly  to 
prevent  evaporation,  and  set  it  in  a  barn  or  cellar  six  or 
twelve  months ;  it  is  then  good  enough  for  anybody  to 
drink. 

Wine-Farming  and  Making. — Mr.  R.  Buchanan,  of  Ohio, 
who  is  one  of  the  most  eminent  vine-growers  of  this  coun- 
try, thinks  that  "wine-farming  will,  in  a  few  years,  become 
simplified,  and  almost  as  easily  understood  as  corn-farm- 
ing. There  is  no  mystery  in  it.  Experience  alone  must 
teach  the  proper  position  and  soil ;  the  right  distances 
apart  for  the  vines;  the  most  judicious  methods  of  spring 
and  summer  pruning ;  and*  as  for  cultivation,  keep  the 
ground  clean  with  the  plough  or  cultivator,  like  corn.  Cer- 
tain rules  are  given  in  books  for  vineyard  culture,  as  pur- 
sued in  the  Ohio  valley.  These  are  the  European  systems, 
adapted  to  our  own  country.  It  will  be  safe  to  follow  these 
rules,  until  by  experimenting  we  can  find  better.  There  is 
more  room  for  progress  in  this  branch  of  agriculture  than 
in  almost  any  other. 


232 

"Making  the  wine  is  as  simple  as  making  cider.  The 
great  bunches  are  cut  from  the  vines,  and  all  unsound  or 
unripe  berries  picked  off  the  bunch  and  thrown  in^p  a 
bucket,  to  make  —  with  the  addition  of  sugar  —  vinegar,  or 
an  inferior  wine.  The  perfect  grapes  of  each  day's  cutting 
are  taken  to  the  wine-house,  and  in  the  evening,  after 
being  mashed  in  a  barrel  with  a  beetle — stem  and  berries — 
or  passed  through  wooden  rollers  in  a  small  mill,  are  put  on 
the  press  and  the  juice  extracted.  About  one-third  runs  off 
without  any  pressure.  The  outer  edges  of  the  pomace  are 
cut  off  for  eight  or  ten  inches,  after  the  first  pressing,  sepa- 
rated with  the  hands,  and  thrown  on  top,  when  the  power 
of  the  screw  is  applied,  and  another  pressing  made.  This 
is  repeated  two  or  three  times.  The  juice  from  the  last 
pressing  being  very  dark  and  astringent,  is  put  with  the  in- 
ferior wine.  The  other  is  put  in  large  casks  filled  about 
five-sixths  full,  to  ferment  and  make  the  good  wine.  No 
sugar  or  brandy  should  be  added  to  the  best  Catawba  juice, 
or  must,  as  it  makes  a  better  wine  without,  and  is  strong 
enough  to  keep  well.  One  end  of  a  siphon  is  placed  in  the 
bung-hole  of  the  cask ;  the  other  being  crooked  over,  rests 
in  a  bucket  of  water. 

"The  fermentation  commences  in  a  day  or  two,  and  the 
carbonic  acid  escapes  through  the  water.  In  ten  or  four- 
teen days,  the  siphon  may  be  removed,  the  casks  filled  up, 
and  the  bung  driven  in  lightly;  in  a  month,  tightly.  In 
midsummer  the  wine  is  drawn  off  into  another  cask,  and 
the  lees  of  the  wine,  with  the  pomace  of  the  grapes,  are 
used  to  make  brandy. 

"The  wine  will  be  clear  and  pleasant  to  drink  in  a  month 
or  two  after  the  first  fermentation  ceases.  The  second  fer- 
mentation occurs  in  the  spring,  about  the  time  of  the  blos- 
soming of  the  grapes ;  this  is  but  slight,  and  it  will  be 
merely  necessary  to  loosen  the  bungs ;  when  it  is  over,  the 
wine  will  be  clear  in  two  or  three  months,  and  safe  to  bot- 
tle, but  that  operation  had  better  be  deferred  until  Novem- 
ber. And  this  is  the  whole  process  of  making  still  wine — 
the  wine  for  general  use ;  and,  being  a  natural  product  of 


233 

the  pure  juice  of  the  grape,  it  is  more  wholesome  than  any 
mixed  or  artificial  wine,  however  showy  and  high-priced  it 
may  be. 

"Let  the  grapes  be  well  ripened;  the  press,  casks,  and 
all  vessels  perfectly  clean,  and  then  keep  the  air  from  the 
new  wine,  by  having  the  casks  constantly  bung-full,  and 
there  is  no  danger  of  its  spoiling.  This  is  the  whole 
secret. 

"It  is  presumed  that  no  one  will  go  into  wine-farming 
largely  at  first ;  but  take  the  precaution  to  test,  by  the  cul- 
tivation of  a  few  acres,  the  capabilities  of  the  soil,  position, 
and  climate,  and  the  kind  of  grapes  best  suited  to  it." 

CorylacejE.     [The  Nut  Tribe.) 

Properties  well  known.  The  seeds  oily,  and  generally 
eatable ;  the  bark  astringent,  and  often  containing  coloring 
matter. 

Ostrya  Virginiea,  Willd.,  Ell.  8k.  |  Ironwood;  hornbeam. 
"       carpinus,  Mich.  J  Richland,  Prof.  Gibbes; 

Newbern. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  619;  Shea  Flora  Carol.  355. 
Its  leaves  afford,  a  o-rateful  food  to  cattle.  The  wood  is 
tough  and  white,  and  burns  like  a  candle.  I  have  suggest- 
ed this  (article  in  De  Bow's  Review)  as  a  substitute  for 
wood  employed  by  engravers.  It  is  employed  by  turners, 
and  wrought  into  mill-cogs,  wheels,  etc.  A  permanent 
yellow  color  is  imparted  to  yarn  by  the  inner  bark. 

The  birch  hornbeam  (C.  betulus),  growing  in  England,  is 
very  much  used  as  a  hedge  plant,  and  is  said  to  "  afford  a 
more  uniform  temperature  of  shade  than  a  brick  wall." 
Our  species  "is  the  most  elegant  of  all  the  hornbeams  of 
Britain."     Wilson. 

"The  sap  of  the  hornbeam  [Carpinus  sylvestris)  is  ob- 
tained in  the  months  of  April  and  May.  At  this  period  it 
is  colorless,  and  clear  as  water ;  its  taste  is  slightly  saccha- 
rine; its  odor  resembles  that  of  whey;  it  reddens  turnsole 
paper.     The  sap  of  this  tree  contains  water  in  very  large 


234 

quantity,  sugars,  extractive  matter  (probably  azotized),  and 
free  acetic  acid,  acetate  of  lime,  and  acetate  of  potash  in 
very  small  quantities.  This  sap,  left  to  itself,  presents  in 
succession  all  the  phenomena  of  the  vinous  and  then  of  the 
acetous  fermentation."  Vauquelin's  Annales  de  Chimie 
t.  xxxi,  p.  20,  first  series ;  Boussingault's  Rural  Economy, 
p.  67,  Law's  edition,  1857. 

Corylus  rostrata,  Ait.  Grows  on  the  mountains.  Fl. 
March. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.,  585 ;  Duhamel's  Mem.  Am.  Journal 
Pharm.  Dr.  Heubener,  of  Bethlehem,  has  emplo}red  the 
short,  rigid  hairs  of  the  involucre  as  a  substitute  for  those  of 
mucuna,  and  has  found  them  equally  anthelmintic. 

I  have  collected  this  plant  in  fruit  on  Tiger  river,  near 
Reidville,  S.  C.  The  hairs  are  extremely  fine,  and  pierce 
the  skin  with  facility.  I  have  little  doubt  with  respect  to 
their  acting  in  a  similar  way  with  mucuna. 

Corylus  America?ia,Walt.  Hazel-nut.  Rich  soils;  along 
the  margin  of  woods  and  thickets.  West  Florida,  and 
northward.     Chapman.     Edible. 

I  have  seen  the  hazel-nut  growing  wild  near  Surnmer- 
ville,  S.  C,  in  Laurens  district,  and  in  Powhatan  county, 
Va.  Our  American  hazel-nut  is  said  to  be  preferred  to  the 
filbert.  Wilson  says  that  the  oil  which  is  obtained  from 
hazel-nuts  by  pressure  is  little  inferior  to  that  of  almonds ; 
and  under  the  name  of  nut-oil  is  often  preferred  by  painters, 
on  account  of  its  drying  more  readilj'  than  any  other  of  the 
same  quality.  Chemists  employ  it  as  the  basis  of  fragrant 
oils,  artificially  prepared,  because  it  easily  combines  with 
and  retains  odors.  This  oil  is  found  serviceable  in  obsti- 
nate coughs.  If  nuts  be  put  into  earthen  pots  and  well 
closed,  and  afterward  buried  eighteen  inches  or  two  feet  in 
the  earth,  they  ma}'  be  kept  sound  through  the  winter.  In 
many  parts  of  England  hazels  (C.  avellana)  are  planted  in 
coppices  and  hedge-rows,  to  be  cut  down  periodically  for 
charcoal,  poles,  fishing-rods,  etc.     Being  extremely  tough 


235 

and  flexible,  the  branches  are  used  for  making  hurdles, 
crates,  and  springles  to  fasten  down  thatch.  They  are 
formed  into  spars,  handles  for  implements  of  husbandry, 
and  when  split  are  bent  into  hoops  for  casks.  Charcoal 
made  from,  hazel  is  much  in  request  for  forges;  and  when 
prepared  in  a  particular  manner,  is  used  by  painters  and 
engravers  to  draw  their  outlines.  The  roots  are  used  by 
cabinet-makers  for  veneering ;  and  in  Italy  the  chips  of  ha- 
zel are  put  into  turbid  wine  for  the  purpose  of  fining  it. 
Rural  Cyc.  Our  species  will  doubtless  answer  for  all  these 
purposes.  Hemp-seed  oil  also  is  used  by  painters.  In  the 
countries  where  yeast  is  scarce,  they  twist  the  slender 
branches  of  hazel  together,  and  steep  them  in  ale  yeast 
during  its  fermentation ;  they  are  then  hung  up  to  dry,  and 
at  the  next  brewing  are  put  into  the  wort  instead  of  yeast. 
Farmer's  Encyc. 

Fagus  Sylvatica.  ]      White  beech.     Rich,  shaded 

"  V.Americana,  L.  J  swamps.  Richland,  Professor 
.Gibbes;  collected  in  St.  John's;  jSTewbern.     Fl.  March. 

Shec.  Flora.  Carol.  559;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  585;  Fl. 
Scotica,  ii,  583 ;  Linn.  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  175.  The  bark  is 
astringent,  and  has  been  used,  according  to  Dr.  Farnham, 
in  intermittent  fever;  but  it  is  not  possessed  of  any  decided 
powers.  The  fruit  produces  vertigo  and  headache  in  the 
human  species.  It  is  observed,  in  the  Fl.  Scotica,  that 
"  the  fat  of  hogs,  which  feed  on  them,  is  soft,  and  will  boil 
away."  The  seeds  yield  an  oil  little  inferior  to  olive  oil,' 
and  fit,  also,  for  burning.  The  pulp  remaining  after  ex- 
pression may  be  converted  into  flour,  similar  in  taste  and 
color  to  wheat,  but  sweeter.  A  narcotic  principle,  called 
fagine,  has  been  found  in  the  husks.  The  young  leaves  are 
sometimes  used  by  the  common  people  as  a  potherb.  The 
wood  is  valuable  to.  cabinet-makers  and  turners,  for  manu- 
facturing purposes — being  capable  of  receiving  a  high  pol- 
ish. Every  kind  of  implement,  plane  stocks,  tool  handles, 
may  be  made  of  this  wood,  which  resists  great  pressure.  In 
England  the  beech  is  extensively  used  for  umbrella  han- 


236 

dies.,  See  Dickens'  Household  Words.  Liebig  states  that 
the  ashes  of  the  beech  contain  a  larger  proportion  of  phos- 
phate of  lime  than  those  of  any  other  tree.  See  his  Agricul- 
tural Chemistry.  It  is  observed  in  South  Carolina  that  the 
lands  on  which  it  grows  are  not  usually  suited  for  cotton ; 
and  we  may,  perhaps,  attribute  it  to  their  depriving  the  soil 
of  this,  so  necessary  a  constituent  in  the  maturation  of  that 
plant.  In  the  lower  country  of  South  Carolina,  the  beech 
is  one  of  the  most  magnificent  of  our  forest  trees.  Chap- 
man only  includes  in  his  work  F.  feruginea,  Ait. 

By  distilling,  says  lire,  beech  tar  (F.  sylvatica)  to  dry- 
ness with  other  processes,  paraphine  is  obtained.  "It  would 
form  admirable  candles,"  the  author  adds,  while  referring 
to  the  production  of  paraphine  as  an  article  of  commerce 
from  peat.  1  insert  this  here  (1862)  as  deposits  of  peat  are 
found  within  the  Confederate  States.  The  ashes  of  peat, 
also,  are  worth  something  as  manure.  They  usually,  Nor- 
ton states,  contain  five  or  six  per  cent,  of  potash  and  soda, 
and  considerable  quantities  .of  lime,  magnesia,  iron,  etc. 
Soot,  a  substance  somewhat  allied,  contains  a  large  quantity 
of  ammonia,  and  is  useful  as  a  manure,  so  much  so  that* 
when  laid  on  heaps  of  grass  the  plants  are  destroyed.  Mi- 
chaux  says  that  our  beech  bears  a  strict  analogy  with  the 
European  beech.  The  beech  should  be  felled  in  the  sum- 
mer when  the  sap  is  in  full  circulation ;  cut  at  this  season 
it  is  very  desirable.  In  the  Fagus  sylvestris,  white  beech, 
"  the  duramen  or  perfect  wood,  bears  a  remarkably  small 
proportion  to  its  alburnum.  The  bark  of  old  trees  is  used 
by  tanners  as  a  substitute  for  oak  bark."  In  England 
beech  wood  is  employed  for  many  purposes — the  nuts  or 
mast  being  given  to  hogs.  See,  also,  Rural  Cyc.  The 
wood  of  the  red  beech  is  stronger,  tougher,  and  more  com- 
pact than  that  of  the  white.  In  the  State  of  Maine,  and  in 
the  British  provinces,  where  oaks  are  rare,  it  is  employed 
with  the  sugar  maple  and  yellow  birch  for  the  lower  part  of 
the  frames  of  vessels.  The  beech  is  incorruptible  when  con- 
stantly in  the  water.  The  ashes  of  both  species  of  beech 
yield  a  very  large  proportion  of  potash.     Michaux,  who  de- 


237 

scribes  the  process  of  extracting  the  oil,  says  that  it  equals 
one-sixth  of  the  nuts  used.  The  quality  of  the  oil  depends 
upon  the  care  with  which  it  is  made,  and  upon  the  purity 
of  the  vessel  in  which  it  is  prepared.  It  should  be  twice 
drawn  off  during  the  first  three  months,  without  disturbing 
the  dregs,  and  the  third  time  at  the  end  of  six  months.  It 
arrives  at  perfection  only  when  it  becomes  limpid  several 
months  after  its  extraction.  It  improves  by  age,  lasts  un- 
impaired for  ten  years,  and  may  be  preserved  longer  than 
any  other  oil.  The  manner  of  making  beechnut  oil  most 
commonly  pursued  in  the  districts  of  the  Western  states 
where  the  tree  abounds,  is  somewhat  different  from  that 
described  in  Michaux's  Sylva.  Instead  of  resorting  to  the 
rather  tedious  process  of  gathering  the  nuts,  and  pressing 
them  through  screw-presses,  the  farmers  turn  out  their  hogs 
immediately  after  the  first  frost,  who  secrete  the  oil  under 
their  skin.  Unless  they  be  fed  some  time  before  killing 
upon  Indian  corn,  the  bacon  has  little  solid  consistency,  be- 
comes liquid  upon  the  slightest  application  of  heat,  and 
keeps  that  state,  resembling  in  that  respect  the  lard  of  hogs 
fed  upon  acorn  mast.  The  nuts  are  only  plentiful  every 
third  or  fourth  year.  I  obtain  the  following  from  a  journal 
(1862): 

•  Beech  Tree  Leaves. — The  leaves  of  the  beech  trees,  collect- 
ed at  autumn,  in  dry  weather,  form  an  admirable  article 
for  filling  beds.  The  smell  is  grateful  and  wholesome ; 
they  do  not  harbor  vermin,  are  very  elastic,  and  may  be 
replenished  annually  without  cost. 

Castanea  pumila,W.  Chinquapin.  Diffused  in  upper  and 
lower  country;  sometimes  attaining  a  height  of  thirty  feet; 
vicinity  of  Charleston;  St.  John's;  jSTewbern.     Fl.  July. 

U".  S.  Disp.  189.  The  bark  has  been  used  in  intermittent 
fever,  but  is  probably  possessed  of  very  little  value.  The 
fruit  is  eatable.  The  wood  is  finer  grained,  more  compact, 
heavier,  and  even  more  durable  than  that  of  the  chestnut, 
and  is  admirably  adapted  for  fence-posts — lasting  in  the 
ground  more  than  forty  years.  Farmer's  Encyc.  See  fol- 
lowins:. 


238 

Castanea  vesca,  L.  Chestnut.  Florida,  and  northward.  In 
South  Carolina  only  found  in  upper  districts ;  one  of  our 
noblest  trees. 

The  fruit  of  the  tree  and  the  chinquapin  (C.  pumila)  are 
well  known.  Eaten  either  raw  or  boiled.  The  roots  con- 
tain an  astringent  principle ;  that  of  the  chinquapin  boiled 
in  milk  is  much  used  in  the  diarrhoea  of  teething  children. 
I  would  advise  a  tea  made  of  this  to  be  used  extemporane- 
ously in  diarrhoea  by  our  soldiers  in  camp.  The  bark  of 
both  trees  contains  tannin,  and  may  be  used'  in  tanning 
leather.  In  Italy,  chestnuts  are  baked  as  bread,  and  there 
and  elsewhere  are  planted  as  food  for  hogs. 

Wilson,  in  his  Rural  Cyc,  says  that  coppices  of  chestnut 
afford  an  excellent  produce  every  ten  or  twelve  years,  for 
hop-poles,  hoops,  and  all  kinds  of  elastic  props  and  handles. 
"The  wood  of  young  chestnuts  serves  better  for  gate-posts  or 
for  any  other  purposes  which  involve  constant  contact  with 
the  ground  than  any  Other  kind  of  wood,  except  }^ew  or 
larch.  It  is  lauded  as  a  good  succedaneum  for  the  coarser 
kinds  of  mahogany  in  the  making  of  furniture."  It  ranks 
nearly  equal  with  oak.  "Cask  staves  of  chestnut  possess 
the  double  recommendation  of  not  being  liable  to  shrink 
and  of  not  imparting  a  foreign  color  to  liquors  which  the 
casks  may  contain.  Dr.  kelson  Burgess,  of  Sumter  district, 
S.  C,  informs  me  that  at  the  recommendation  of  Dr.  Jones 
he  has  used  the  decoction  of  the  root  and  bark  of  the  chin- 
quapin frequently  as  a  substitute  for  quinine  in  intermittent 
and  remittent  fever,  and  with  decidedly  satisfactory  results. 
I  mention  this  hoping  that  it  will  be  examined  by  others. 
I  can  have  no  clue  to  the  reasons  of  its  utility,  regarding  it 
heretofore  simply  as  an  astringent.  Hot  water  is  poured 
over  the  root  and  bark,  and  a  large  quantity  taken  during 
the  twenty-four  hours.  The  wood  of  the  chestnut,  though 
brittle,  is  very  durable  in  wTeather.  I  am  informed  that 
fence-rails  made  of  it  will  last  over,  twenty  years.  The 
trees  can  easily  be  raised  from  the  seed. 

Quercus  tindoria.     Bartram.     Black  oak;  quercitron  oak. 


239 

Upper  districts;  rare  in  lower;  collected  in  Charleston  dis- 
trict; St.  John's.     Fl.  April. 

Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  194;  Am.  Med.  Record,  iii, 
363 ;  Barton's  Essay  to  Form.  Mat.  Med. ;  Alibert,  Nouv. 
Elems.  de  Therap.  i,  93  ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med. 
v,  590;  Edinb.  Med.  Journal,  72;  IT,  S.  Disp.  581 ;  Mich.  K 
Am.  Sylva,  i,  91 ;  Journal  de  Pharm.  et  de  Chim.  v,  251 ; 
Royle,  Mat.  Med.  559;  Ball,  and' Gar.  Mat.  Med.  396;  Grif- 
fith's Med.  Bot.  585 ;  Am.  Herbal,  153.  The  bark,  a  pow- 
erful and  valuable  astringent,  is  also  possessed  of  purgative 
properties,  in  which  respect  it  has  an  advantage  not  met 
with  in  the  Q.  falcata.  They  have  both  been  efficacious  in 
leucorrhoea,  amenorrhoea,  chronic  hysteria,  diarrhoea,  rheu- 
matism, pulmonary  consumption,  tabes  mesenterica,  cynan- 
che  tonsillaris,  and  asthma.  Oak-balls  produced  by  these 
are  also  powerful  astringents,  and  are  employed  in  many 
cases  requiring  such  remedies — as  in  diarrhoea,  dysentery, 
and  hemorrhage  ;  also,  in  mild  cases  of  intermittent  fever. 
The  dose  of  the  powder  is  forty  grains.  The  powder  of 
this,  or  of  the  bark,  mixed  with  hog's  lard,  is  a  very  simple 
and  effectual  remedy  in  painful  hemorrhoids,  and  a  decoc- 
tion is  serviceable  as  a  fomentation  for  prolapsus  uteri  and 
ani,  and  for  defiuctions  from  those  parts.  According  to 
Dr.  Cullan,  it  is  applicable-  in  relaxations,  or  impaired  con- 
ditions of  the  mucous  membranes,  on  account  of  its  tonic, 
constringing  effect,  and  as  a  gargle  in  inflammation  of  the 
fauces,  prolapsus  uvulae,  etc.  Mr.  Lizars  has  used  it  with 
"wonderful  success"  in  the  cure  of  reducible  hernia.  It  is 
applied  topically  in  mortification,  and  to  ill-conditioned  ul- 
cers. Marasmic  and  scrofulous  children  are  bathed  with 
great  advantage  in  a  bath  made  of  the  bark.  Although 
this  species  acts  slightly  on  the  bowels,  it  contains  more 
tannin  and  gallic  acid  than  the  Q.  alba  and  Q.  falcata; 
hence  it  is  better  suited  to  cases  requiring  an  external 
astringent.  Quercitron  is  obtained  from  this  and  the  Q. 
falcata  (which  see)  indiscriminately,  and  is  sent  to  Europe 
in  large  quantities  to  be  employed  in  dyeing  wool  and  silk 
of  a  yellow  color. 


£40 

The  bark  is  a  well  known  and  important  dyestivff,  and  is 
much  employed  in  dyeing  wool,  silk,  and  paper-hangings. 
It  is  said  by  Dr.  Bancroft,  who  introduced  it  into  notice,  to 
be  equal  in  power  to  ten  times  its  weight  of  woad.  With  a 
basis  of  alumina,  a  decoction  of  the  bark  gives  a  bright 
yellow  dye ;  with  oxide  of  tin,  it  gives  a  variety  of  tints 
from  pale  lemon  to  deep  orange;  and  with  oxide  of  iron,  it 
yields  a  drab  color.  The  cellular  integument  of  the  bark 
is  what  contains  the  coloring  matter.  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. 
"  Oak-galls  put  into  a  solution  of  vitriol  in  water  give  it  a 
purple  color,  which  as  it  grows  stronger  becomes  black." 
Infusions  of  oak-galls  (tannin)  are  excellent  tests  of  iron. 
Gallic  acid  is  also  yielded  by  the  gall-nuts,  and  by  oak 
bark.  The  principal  barks  which  are  known  to  yield  it  are 
those  of  the  oak,  willow,  plum-tree,  the  poplar,  the  elm, 
the  mountain  ash,  the  birch,  the  elder,  the  sycamore,  the 
beech,  and  the  cheny  tree.  But  it  by  no  means,  adds 
Wilson,  follows  the  proportions  of  tannin.  It  is  readily, 
but  very  slowly  obtained  from  a  cold,  long-kept,  and  event- 
ually evaporated  decoction  of  galls,  or  of  the  tanniniferous 
barks.     Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  and  medical  authors. 

All  oak  bark  for  the  tanner  ought  at  latest  to  be 
removed  from  the  tree  before  the  third  week  of  June, 
"when  the  sap  has  begun  to  rise,  and  before  the  leaf  is 
completely  developed;"  and  every  ton  of  it,  says  Wilson, 
which  is  removed  after  the  first  of  July,  is  not  only  impov- 
erished in  tannin,  but  weighs  two  hundred  weight  less  than 
if  it  had  been  removed  before  the  end  of  May.  Other 
trees  may  in  England  be  peeled  earlier.  The  reader  inter- 
ested in  procuring  barks  should  read  the  article  Rural 
Cyc,  "Barking."  The  best  methods  of  collecting  and 
storing  are  described.  The  instruments  used  in  collecting 
bark  are  a  mallet  to  beat  the  bark,  and  a  wedge,  both 
made  of  ash,  to  insert  beneath  the  loosened  bark.  The 
wedge  is  spatula-shaped.  Slight  wetting  does  not  injure 
bark.  It  is  dried  in  dry,  open  air,  upon  supports,  so  that 
water  will  not  collect  upon  it.  The  bark  should  be  fre- 
quently  turned.     When    it    is    sufficiently   dry   to    avoid 


241 

fermentation,  it  should  be  carried  to  a  dry-house  or  shade, 
or  stacked  in  the  same  manner  as  hay — in  stacks  not  so 
large  as  to  incur  'the  risk  of  fermentation.  In  the  Farmer's 
Encyc.  the  plan  of  removing  bark  is  described.  It  is  stated 
that  tannic  acid  most  abounds  when  the  buds  are  opening, 
and  least  in  winter,  and  in  cold  springs.  Four  or  five 
pounds  of  good  oak  bark  of  average  quality  are  required 
to  form  one  pound  of  leather.  The  bark  separates  from 
the  tree  more  easily  during  spring.  See  Am.  Farmer's 
Cyclopaedia. 

The  best  season  for  felling  timber  is  undoubtedly  mid- 
winter, the  next  being  midsummer,  when  the  sap  is  chiefly 
confined  to  the  young  shoots,  the  circumference  of  the  soft 
wood,  and  the  bark.  The  worst  time  for  felling  timber  is 
the  spring,  just  before  the  development  of  the  buds,  when 
the  tree  is  fullest  of  sap.  Where  much  value  is  attached 
to  the  soft  or  outer  wood,  felling  ought  to  take  place  when 
there  is  least  sap  in  the  tree.  In  general,  all  the  soft  woods, 
such  as  the  elm,  lime,  poplar,  willow,  should  be  felled  dur- 
ing winter;  hard  woods,  like  the  oak,  beech,  ash,  etc., 
when  the  trunks  are  of  large  size  and  valued  chiefly  for 
their  heart-wood,  may  be  felled  at  any  time.  When  the 
bark,  however,  is  to  be  taken  into  consideration,  as  in 
the  oak,  the  tree  should  be  felled  in  spring,  as  then  the 
bark  contains  four  times  the  quantity  of  astringent  matter 
to  that  felled  in  winter.  Brande's  Dictionary  of  Science ; 
Farmer's  Encyclopedia. 

Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopedia,  article  "Charcoal,"  furnishes 
a  table  of  the  proportions,  color,  and  quality  of  charcoal 
furnished  by  various  trees ;  also  methods  of  preparing  it 
at  the  iron-works,  with  the  mode  of  preparing  lampblack. 
The  willow,  alder,  and  dogwood  are  employed  for  preparing 
charcoal  for  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder.  See  Salix; 
"Pimis." 

See  article  "Leather,"  in  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc,  for  mode 
of  preparing  the  varieties  of  leather,  tanning  kidskins  for 
French  gloves,  etc.;  also  "Rhus,"  in  this  paper. 

The  editor  of  the  Southern  Field  and  Fireside,  April, 
16 


242 

1862,  states  in  answer  to  inquiries  "that  the  bark  of  the 
black  poplar  is  used  in  England  for  tanning,  but  not,  we 
believe,  in  this  country.  It  has  probably  about  half  the 
strength  of  black  oak  bark.  Blackberry  briars,  roots,  and 
stems  washed  clean  (this  it  will  be  observed  confirms  my 
own  observations)  supply  a  good  deal  of  the  tanning  prin- 
ciple ;  and  our  common  broomsedge,  or  straw,  has  been 
largely  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  leather  in  Euro- 
pean nations  where  timber  barks  are  insufficient  to  meet  the 
public  wants.  Sumach  is  exported  largely  from  Sicily  for 
tanning  goat  and  sheepskins.  Oak  leaves,  fennel,  and 
may-weed  abound  in  tannic  acid,  and  we  intend  experi- 
menting with  the  bark  of  old  field  pine  for  making  leather. 
That  it  contains  tan  we  know ;  but  whether  it  will  be 
profitable  to  peel  and  use  it  has  yet  to  be  determined. 
Larch  is  much  used  in  Great  Britain,  and  hemlock  at  the 
North." 

I  see  a  Treatise  on  Tanning  advertised  by  S.  Hart,  book- 
seller, Charleston,  S.  C,  which  I  have  not  examined,  but 
which  may  furnish  more  complete  information  than  what  is 
to  be  obtained  from  fugitive  essays. 

From  a  useful  communication  in  Southern  Field  and 
Fireside,  Oct.  19,  1861,  it  is  stated  that  oak  bark  has 
sold  in  the  District  of  Columbia  at  ten  dollars  a  cord  for 
years;  and  that  "several  million  dollars  worth  of  sumach 
(Rhus)  is  annually  imported  from  the  south  of  Europe 
into  the  United  States  for  tanning  purposes."  The  Rhus 
grows  abundantly  in  the  Confederate  States,  as  well  as 
many  other  plants  containing  tannin.  I  have  noticed,  in 
traversing  that  part  of  the  Dismal  Swamp  near  Suffolk, 
Va.,  that  the  Rhus  is  the  most  characteristic  growth.  It 
could  be  procured  in  any  amount.  The  writer  of  the  arti- 
cle just  referred  to  calls  attention  to  the  great  amount  of 
goatskins  and  morocco  manufactured  and  exported  from 
France  and  England,  where  tannin  is  scarce,  to  this 
country,  where  the  materials  for  producing  are  abundant, 
at  least  in  the  Confederate  States.  I  quote  from  the  writer 
in  Southern  Field  and  Fireside  as  follows,  and  also  refer 


243 

the  reader  to  my  own  examination  of  the  plants  growing 
in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  S.  C,  October,  1861,  for  the  relative 
amount  of  tannin  in  plants.  See  " Liqiddambar"  in  this 
volume : 

"But  such  is  the  demand  for  leather  one  may  well  use 
oak  and  chestnut  bark  hewed  off  at  any  time  in  the  year. 
Sumach,  fennel,  and  pine  bark  are  much  used  in  Europe. 
Whether  any  of  our  common  pine  barks  contain  tan 
enough  to  warrant  their  use  has,  we  believe,  never  been 
tested.  Larch  bark  is  much  used  in  Scotland,  although 
only  half  the  strength  of  oak.  Monteath,  of  Stirling,  ap- 
plied chemical  tests  to  the  infusion  of  different  barks  with 
the  following  results :  Oak  (coppice)  contains  most  tannic 
acid;  ash  and  hornbeam  next;  Spanish  chestnut  third; 
willow  fourth  ;  birch,  beech,  and  larch  fifth ;  spruce  and 
silver  firs  sixth ;  mountain  ash  and  broom  seventh ;  and 
next  Scottish  pine,  bramble  or  briars,  laburnum,  and  the 
sawdust  of  oak  timber."  My  examinations  were  made 
before  I  saw  this  paper. 

Dr.  Daniel  Lee  in  the  papers  published  in  the  Southern 
Field  and  Fireside,  from  which  I  have  drawn  largely, 
earnestly  advises  us  to  be  more  economical  with  regard  to 
our  supply  of  barks  for  tanning.  "It  is  poor  economy," 
he  says,  "for  the  South  to  destroy  nearly  all  of  its  valuable 
tan-bark  in  clearing  oak  land,  cutting  rail  timber  and  fire- 
wood, and  thereby  deprive  our  children  and  grandchildren 
of  the  power  to  manufacture  their  own  leather.  The  time 
has  come  when  this  error  must  be  corrected,  or  serious 
injury  will  be  the  consequence.  To  send  a  million  dollars 
worth  of  hides  to  the  North,  have  them  tanned,  and  the 
leather  made  into  shoes,  boots,  saddles,  and  harness  for 
Southern  consumption,  is  to  pay  about  eight  or  nine  million 
dollars  for  the  support  of  that  Northern  economy  which 
never  wastes  the  bark  that  grows  on  oak  or  hemlock  trees, 
and  that  industry  which  turns  this  bark  into  gold."  I 
know  this  criticism  is  partly  just;  still,  the  planter  at  the 
South  cannot  often  turn  to  the  storing  away  or  sale  of  all 
the  oak  or  other  bark  on  his  place  when  he  is  compelled  to 


244 

clear  new  land,  and  can  scarcely  accomplish  that  properly ; 
whereas  at  the  North  the  farmer  is  compelled  to  every 
expedient  to  add  to  his  resources. 

I  have  endeavored,  in  the  examination  made  in  St. 
John's,  Berkley,  S.  C,  November,  1862,  to  show  that  the 
leaves  of  many  of  our  native  trees — such  as  the  sweet  gum, 
myrtle,  etc.,  are  rich  in  tannin,  and  being  easily  procured 
may  be  substituted  for  barks,  which  are  difficult  to  prepare. 
Tanners  in  the  State  of  ISTew  York,  Dr.  Lee  states,  save  tan- 
bark  enough  to  manufacture  three  times  as  much  leather 
as  the  four  millions  of  people  in  that  state  consume. 
"Leather  is  largely  exported  from  New  York  and  Massa- 
chusetts (which  is  a  land  of  shoemakers)  to  England,'  the 
Southern  states,  and  the  great  prairie  West."  He  con- 
demns "the  habit  of  felling  oak  trees  when  the  bark  will 
not  peel."  See  "Quercus,"  "  Rhus,"  "  Myrica"  and  "  Liquid- 
ambar,"  for  notice  of  plants  suitable  for  tanning  leather ; 
also  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc,  art.  "Currying,"  for  method  of 
preparing  and  dressing  leather,  and  lire's  Dictionary 
of  Arts. 

'■'■Method  of  tanning. — For  doing  a  small  business  hot  water 
and  hot  ooze  may  be  best  run  upon  the  bark  to  extract  all 
its  tannic  acid  in  a  short  time  ;  but  in  a  large  way  either  a 
copper  heater  should  pass  through  the  leech  holding  bark, 
or  it  should  be  boiled  by  steam.  A  copper  pan  is  some- 
times used,  set  on  an  arch,  for  heating  ooze.  A  mill  for 
working  hides  operates  precisely  like  a  fulling-mill  in 
scouring  and  fulling  cloth.  When  dry  and  weighty,  Span- 
ish hides  are  tanned.  Hide-mills  have  heavy  hammers, 
which  are  elevated  eight  or  ten  inches  by  a  revolving 
wheel,  and  fall  with  an  oblique  stroke  on  the  hides,  that 
causes  them  to  turn  like  cloth  in  a  fulling-mill.  Any 
horizontal  staff  will  work  a  hide-mill,  and  a  horse-power 
will  drive  the  shaft.  Our  friend,  Prof.  Rutherford,  has  con- 
structed a  horse-power  for  fifty  dollars  on  his  farm  (which 
joins  that  of  the  writer),  that  would  drive  a  hide-mill  as 
easily  as  it  now  thrashes  wheat,  and  cuts  hay  and  straw  for 
horses.     As  this  is  a  cheap  and  valuable  power  for  farm 


245 

use,  it  has  been  our  purpose  to  describe  it,  which  we  shall 
yet  do. 

"Any  mechanic,  by  seeing  the  model  of  a  hide-mill,  could 
easily  make  one.  It  needs  no  cast  iron  double  crank  like  a 
flillinff-mill.  The  whole  affair  can  be  made  of  wood.  Our 
tanning  in  the  South  is  many  years  behind  the  progress  of 
the  age."  The  reader  interested  in  this  subject  may  consult 
with  advantage  lire's  Dictionary  of  Arts  and  Manufactures; 
also  an  excellent  article  on  tanning  and  leather,  in  Nichol- 
son's Encyclopaedia. 

I  am  induced  to  insert,  in  connection  with  the  subject  of 
materials  for  tanning,  a  communication  entire  upon  the 
subject  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Daniel  Lee,  in  the  Southern 
Field  and  Fireside,  Nov.  30,  1861.  It  contains  practical 
instruction  on  the  subject  of  manufacture  of  leather  on  a 
small  scale  by  farmers  and  planters : 

"It  will  be  better  for  several  farmers,  having  from  five  to 
ten  hides  each,  to  unite  in  the  purchase  of  a  bark-mill  for 
grinding  tan-bark,  and  in  constructing  a  few  vats  for  their 
common  use,  than  for  one  to  be  at  the  whole  expense  for 
so  small  a  business  as  his  own  alone.  The  most  primitive 
way  of  tanning  is  in  troughs  dug  out  of  large  trees  like 
pine  and  poplar ;  but  molasses  and  bacon  hogsheads  will 
form  the  cheapest  tan-vats  for  the  farmer's  use.  Dig  out 
the  earth  two-thirds  the  depth  of  the  hogsheads  ;  pound 
moist  clay  over  the  bottom  on  which  the  hogsheads  are  to 
stand.  Three  or  four  will  do  for  the  tanning  part  of 
leather-making.  Let  them  not  come  within  six  inches 
of  each  other,  so  that  moist  clay  may  be  pounded  closely 
around  each  hogshead  to  within  three  inches  of  the  top. 
If  bark  cannot  be  ground,  it  should  be*  broken  or  cut  fine 
with  an  axe,  so  as  to  fill  two  of  the  hogsheads.  Heat  clear 
spring  or  rain-water  boiling  hot  in  large  pots  or  kettles,  till 
the  bark  in  both  hogsheads  is  covered  with  it.  Let  the 
bark  steep  and  soak  a  week  or  more,  while  the  raw  hides 
are  prepared  for  the  ooze  and  tanning.  One  hogshead  will 
do  for  this,  but  two  are  better.  They  ought  to  stand  some 
yards  from  the  bark-vats,  because  lime  spattering  into  the 


246 

ooze  injures  it.     Surround  these  with  clay  like  the  hogs- 
heads used  for  tanning. 

"After  the  horns,  tail," and  dew-claws  are  removed  from 
a  green  hide,  it  is  split  into  two  halves  or  sides,-  from  the 
tail  to  the  nose  on  the  pate.  If  the  hide  is  dry,  it  must 
soak  and  soften  first.  After  it  is  split  it  goes  upon  the 
heam,  and  the  operative  scrapes  and  tears  off  all  the  flesh, 
and  part  of  the  fascia  or  membrane  which  covers  the  flesh 
side  of  every  skin.  It  is  now  ready  for  the  lime.  A  half 
bushel  of  recently  slaked  lime,  or  some  less  of  quick  lime, 
will  do  for  a  hogshead  nearly  full  of  water.  The  lime  and 
water  should  be  well  stirred  with  a  clean  hoe  or  "plunge  " 
before  putting  sides  or  skins  into  the  same.  They  should 
be  often  moved  about  in  the  lime-water  by  a  lever  some 
seven  or  eight  feet  long,  and  hauled  out  once  a  day  with  an 
iron  or  wooden  hook  such  as  tanners  use.  As  soon  as  the 
hair  will  slip,  sides  should  be  worked  over  the  beam  and 
rinsed  in  the  soak,  or  water  hogshead,  to  remove  the  hair 
and  all  the  lime.  The  hogshead  used  as  a  soak,  washed 
clean,  is  now  to  serve  as  a  hen-dung  vat  or  bait.  It  fer- 
ments, and  is  ripe  for  use  in  one  or  two  days,  after  soaking 
in  a  half  hogshead  or  more  of  water.  Much  pains  and 
care  are  used  in  working  sides  and  skins  out  of  the  bait,  as 
they  go  from  this  into  the  tan  ooze.  They  will  soon  taint 
and  spoil  in  warm  weather.  Worked  and  washed  clean, 
the  sides  and  skins  are  next  handled  two  or  three  times  a 
day  in  tan  ooze  until  they  are  evenly  colored,  and  get 
a  handsome,  fine  grain.  The  handling  is  done  in  this 
wise :  Place  three  or  four  pieces  of  plank  four  feet  long 
down  as  a  platform,  so  as  to  slope  over  the  hogshead,  and 
let  ooze  from  the  leather,  when  lifted  out  of  it  upon  the 
plank,  run  back  into  the  hogshead,  and  not  waste  upon 
the  ground.  Short  pieces  of  scantling  or  sticks  of  clean 
wood  lie  on  three  sides  of  the  plank,  over  which  the  edges 
of  the  two  sides  laid  down  extend,  and  thus  form  a  sort  of 
trough  open  only  at  the  end  that  lies  over  the  edge  of  the 
hogshead.  All  the  sides  are  drawn  up  separate  from  the 
liquor  with  a  hook,  and  spread  by  hand  on  the  platform, 


247 

and  are  thrown  back  into  the  ooze  again.  If  the  latter  is 
weak,  it  is  half  or  more  pumped  out,  and  fresh,  strong  ooze 
is  pumped  in.  The  two  hogsheads  of  bark,  with  boiling 
hot  water,  will  keep  up  the  strength  as  fast  as  ten  or  twelve 
sides  can  possibly  absorb  it,  after  starting  with  two  hogs- 
heads of  good  ooze.  You  cannot  heat  old  ooze  in  an  iron 
vessel,  as  it  would  spoil  it ;  but  you  may,  perhaps,  beg  or 
borrow  a  copper  still,  in  which  tan  ooze  may  be  heated 
without  the  least  injury  to  the  liquor  or  the  still.  The 
heated  ooze  is  put  on  the  bark,  as  it  is  much  better  than 
water,  where  it  is  allowed  to  become  about  as  cool  as  the 
atmosphere. 

"As  the  tanning  advances,  skins  and  hides  require  less 
handling.  We  should  hang  them  across  sticks  an  inch  or 
less  in  diameter,  in  and  under  the  ooze.  The  ends  of  these 
sticks  or  rods  should  rest  on  a  light  frame  in  the  hogshead, 
and  four  inches  or  more  below  the  top.  Allowing  two 
inches  for  each  stick  and  side,  fifteen  sides  would  occupy 
thirty  inches  in  width  in  the  hogshead.  Batts  and  butts 
hang  down  near  the  bottom  of  the  hogshead,  where  the 
ooze  is  strongest.  A  small  hand-pump  should  be  put  fre- 
quently by  the  side  of  the  leather  and  of  the  hogshead,  to 
lift  the  ooze  at  the  bottom  to  the  top.  Sides  are  handled  a 
week  or  two  before  suspending  them  separately  in  ooze. 

"  As  pumping  is  easier,  and  less  wasteful  than  dipping, 
we  will  state  the  way  in  which  a  cheap  and  good  pump  can 
be  made :  Its  whole  length  should  be  some  six  feet,  and 
the  material,  plank,  not  over  an  inch  thick.  The  open 
space  on  the  inside  for  the  ascent  of  ooze  or  water  should 
be  about  three  inches  square.  Two  strips  of  plank  three 
inches  wide,  and  two  five  inches,  the  latter  lying  on  the 
former  on  both  sides,  will  form  an  aperture  in  the  centre  of 
three  inches  square.  The  plank  ought  to  be  closely  jointed, 
and  either  painted  or  covered  with  tar  or  melted  pitch  to 
make  all  the  joints  water-tight.  Of  course  the  nailing 
should  be  close  and  perfect.  A  box  of  half-inch  plank 
comes  up  two  inches  inside  from  the  bottom  of  the  pump 
for  the  leather  valve  to  rest  upon. 


248 

"  One  side  of  the  valve  is  very  simple,  but  not  easy 
to  describe.  Imagine  a  funnel  made  of  thin,  flanky,  sole- 
leather,  four  inches  in  diameter  across  the  top,  and  as 
many  deep  down  to  the  neck,  and  that  its  centre  is  nailed 
or  tied  fast  to  a  rod  that  is  to  serve  as  a  piston  in  the  pump. 
The  weight  of  water  or  other  liquid  to  be  raised  in  pump- 
ing can  set  this  pliable  leather  cup  to  adapt  itself  to  the 
square  shape  of  the  aperture  in  the  pump ;  and  to  prevent 
this  cup  or  funnel  falling  back  in  lifting  ooze  or  water, 
three  narrow  strips  of  leather,  sewed  to  the  top  of  the 
funnel  on  three  sides  (one  on  each),  are  nailed  with  small 
nails  to  the  piston-rod  above,  say  six  inches  from  the 
funnel.  A  small  but  strong  wooden  pin  passes  through  the 
end  of  the  rod  which,  held  in  the  hand,  enables  one  to  lift 
easily  all  the  liquid  in  the  pump.  The  discharge  from 
the  pump  is  made  in  the  usual  way,  a  foot  or  more  below 
the  top  of  it.  Any  one  who  can  use  a  plane  can  make  a 
pump  of  this  kind  take  ooze  from  the  bottom  of  one  vat, 
tub,  or  hogshead  filled  with  bark  or  leather,  and  put  it  ex- 
peditiously into  another,  where  all  stand  on  a  level,  or  nearly 
so.  A  thin  case  keeps  the  tan-bark  or  leather  from  filling 
the  little  space  required  by  the  pump,  which  is  put  into  the 
vat  or  hogshead,  and  taken  out  as  often  as  needed.  Any 
blacksmith  can  make  the  beaming-knives  used  by  tanners, 
but  not  those  used  by  curriers  in  finishing  leather.  The 
former  are  curved,  and  often  have  small  teeth  to  tear  up 
the  tough  membrane  under  the  skin.  All  tan-bark  should 
be  clean  and  dry,  for  dirt  and  earth  blacken  leather.  Care- 
less persons  often  get  clay  and  mud  into  tan-vats,  than 
which  nothing  is  more  injurious.  Few  arts  demand 
equal  neatness  in  their  operatives.  With  the  most  im- 
proved apparatus  and  good  bark,  the  labor  of  tanning  is 
small.  An  expert  will  work  one  hundred  grown  hides 
into  the  bark  or  ooze  in  a  month,  for  which  we  generally 
paid  twenty  dollars ;  and  the  labor  of  tanning  two  hundred 
sides  was  about  the  same  after  they  came  to  the  bark. 

"If  a  farmer  can  get  his  hides  tanned  and  curried  for  half 
of  the  leather  they  will  make,  it  is  probably  better  than 


249 

to  attempt  to  tan  them  himself.  Let  him  improve  his  pas- 
tures by  cultivating  the  best  grasses,  and  raise  more  fat 
cattle  for  home  consumption,  and  thus  have  three  or  four 
hides  for  the  tanner  where  he  has  one  now.  This  will  call 
first-class  tanneries  into  existence  that  will  give  a  pound  of 
good  sole-leather  for  a  pound  of  dry  hide,  or  nearly  that. 
Every  farmer  ought  to  spare  all  the  tan-bark  he  can  ;  for 
we  speak  advisedly  when  we  say  that  the  Confederate 
States  are  even  now  short  of  oak  bark  if  they  are  to  manu- 
facture all  the  leather  which  they  consume  in  saddles,  bri- 
dles, harness,  saddle-bags,  buggy,  and  carriage  trimmings, 
caps,  hat-linings,  book-bindings,  shoes,  and  boots.  It  has 
been  the  misfortune  of  the  cotton  states  to  underrate  all 
other  industries  but  that  of  producing  their  great  staple. 
Hence  the  scarcity  of  good  mechanics  and  artisans.  Hence 
we  make  no  effort  to  diversify  our  agriculture,  and  thereby 
meet  many  public  wants,  while  resting  our  land  from  the 
scourge  of  eternal  ploughing.  That  system  of  husbandry 
which  accumulates  the  elements  of  crops  and  fertility  in 
every  acre  cultivated,  is  still  a  myth  to  most  planters. 
Southern  nationality  will  expose,  and  happily  correct  many 
errors.  We  shall  learn  to  make  as  much  cotton  and  corn 
on  two  acres  as  we  now  do  on  six,  and  at  the  same  time  we 
shall  produce  tenfold  more  of  the  necessaries  and  comforts 
of  civilized  life.  Our  dependence  on  foreign  industry  and 
skill  for  so  much  of  what  we  consume  encourages  the 
world  to  believe  that  our  subjugation  is  only  a  question  of 
time.  Since  the  mechanical  trades  are  necessary  to  our 
happiness,  we  should  encourage  our  sons  to  become  scien- 
tific mechanics,  as  well  as  farmers,  lawyers,  doctors,  and 
priests,  and  soldiers." 

On  account  of  the  importance  of  the  subject  I  insert  here 
the  following  directions  for  "Tanning  on  the  Plantations"  by 
T.  Affleck,  from  the  Am.  Agriculturist,  also  republished  in 
the  Southern  Cultivator,  vol.  i,  p.  198,  and  the  paper  by 
J.  S.  Whitten,  and  one  in  vol.  vi,  p.  177  : 

"  Tanning  leather  for  the  use  of  the  plantation  is  an  item 
of  good  management  that  should  not  be  overlooked  by  any 


250 

planter.  Nor  would  it  be  as  much  overlooked  as  it  is  if 
the  simplicity  of  the  process  was  generally  known  —  that 
process,  I  mean,  that  will  suffice  for  making  leather  for 
home  use.  The  tanner  by  profession,  in  order  to  prepare  an 
article  that  will  command  a  good  price  in  market,  and 
have  a  merchantable  appearance,  puts  the  hides  and  skins 
through  a  greater  number  of  manipulations,  and  that  he 
may  work  to  better  advantage,  has  his  arrangements  on  a 
more  extensive  scale. 

"  The  vats,  tools,  and  implements  really  needed  are  few 
and  simple.  Four  vats  will  generally  be  found  all-sufficient ; 
one  for  a  pool  of  fresh  water,  and  for  baiting ;  one  for  liming; 
another  for  coloring ;  and  a  fourth  for  tanning.  The  best 
size,  in  the  clear,  is  seven  feet  long,  four  and  a  half  feet 
wide,  and  five  feet  deep.  They  should  be  placed  so  as  to 
be  easily  and  conveniently  filled  with  water  from  a  spring, 
running  stream,  or  cistern.  Dig  the  holes  nine  feet  by  six 
and  a  half  and  six ;  if  the  foundation  is  clay,  the  depth 
need  not  be  over  five  feet.  Form  a  stiff  bed  of  clay  mortar 
in  the  bottom  on  which  to  lay  the  floor,  and  on  it  erect  the 
sides  and  ends  of  the  vat,  of  plank  of  almost  any  kind, 
sufficiently  thick  to  resist  the  pressure  from  without — two 
inches  will  be  thick  enough.  When  this  is  done,  and  the 
whole  nailed  fast,  fill  in  the  vacant  space  all  round  with 
well  tempered  clay  mortar,  ramming  it  effectually.  It  is  on 
this,  and  not  the  planks,  that  dependence  is  placed  for 
rendering  the  vat  perfect.  When  well  made  a  vat  will  be 
good  for  a  long  lifetime — the  ooze  preventing  the  decay  of 
any  but  the  top  round  of  plank.  Such  a  vat  will  hold  fif- 
teen large  beef  hides  (thirty  sides),  besides  a  number  of 
small  skins. 

"  The  material  used  for  tanning  is  the  bark  of  the  red  or 
black  oak,  stripped  when  the  sap  flows  in  the  spring, 
stacked  and  dried,  of  which  about  four  pounds  are  supposed 
to  be  necessary  to  produce  one  pound  of  leather.  There  is 
an  article  occasionally  used  called  "catechu,"  which  is  an 
extract  made  from  the  wood  of  a  mimosa  tree,  a  native  of 
India,  half  a  pound  of  which  answers  the  same  purpose. 


251 

Galls,  willow  bark,  the  bark  of  the  Spanish  chestnut,  and 
common  elm,  as  also  sumach,  are  all  used  by  the  tanner. 
It  has  been  recently  found  that  the  root  of  the  palmetto 
answers  an  equally  good  purpose  with  the  best  oak  bark. 

"Bark  has  to  be  ground  as  wanted;  or  if  the  quantity 
needed  is  small,  and  it  is  not  thought  advisable  to  incur 
the  expense  of  a  bark-mill  (from  $10  to  $18),  it  may  be 
pounded  in  a  large  mortar,  or  beat  up  on  a  block.  It  will 
require  one-third  more  of  pounded  than  of  ground  bark  to 
afford  equally  strong  ooze,  which  is  the  infusion  of  bark. 

"  The  principal  tools  requisite  are  a  flushing-knife,  cur- 
rier's knife,  a  brush  like  a  stiff  horse-brush,  and  a  fleshing- 
beam.  The  fleshing-beam  is  made  by  splitting  in  two  a 
hard  wood  stick  of  about  a  foot  in  diameter ;  inserting  two 
stout  legs,  some  thirty  inches  long,  in  one  end  on  the  split 
side,  so  that  the  other  end  rests  on  the  ground,  with  the 
round  side  up,  the  elevated  end  being  high  enough  to  reach 
the  workman's  waist.  A  fleshing-knife  may  be  made  by 
bending  an  old  drawing-knife  to  suit  the  round  of  the  flesh- 
ing-beam. 

"  The  skins  of  bulls,  oxen,  cows,  and  horses  are  called 
hides ;  those  of  calves,  deer,  sheep,  etc.,  are  known  as  skins. 

"Fresh  and  dried  hides  receive  the  same  treatment, 
except  in  the  washing  process.  Those  that  are  salted  and 
dry  (and  no  hide  should  be  dried  with  less  than  from  two 
to  four  quarts  of  salt  being  rubbed  on  the  flesh  side — dried 
without  salt,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  soften  them — ) 
require  to  be  steeped,  beaten,  and  rubbed  several  times 
alternately,  to  bring  them  to  a  condition  sufficiently  soft 
for  tanning. 

"  Green  or  fresh  hides  must  be  soaked  in  pure  water 
from  twelve  to  twenty-four  hours,  to  extract  all  the  blood, 
etc.,  and  soften  the  extraneous,  fleshy  matter,  which  must 
then  be  removed  —  throwing  one  hide  at  a  time  on  the 
fleshing-beam,  grain  or  hair  side  down,  and  scraping  or 
shaving  it  off  with  the  fleshing-knife,  which  must  be  some- 
what dull  or  the  skin  is  apt  to  be  cut.  They  are  then  put 
in  the  liming-vat,  which  is  supplied  with  strong  lime-water 


252 

by  filling  the  vat  a  little  over  half  full  of  water,  and  adding 
thereto  four  bushels  of  unslaked  (or  of  air-slaked)  lime,  or 
at  the  rate  of  two-thirds  of  a  bushel  of  lime  to  the  barrel  of 
water.  This  will  suffice  for  fifteen  hides;  each  time  that 
they  are  removed  and  a  fresh  lot  of  hides  put  in,  add  another 
bushel  of  lime,  which  will  keep  up  the  strength  for  a  twelve- 
month. Before  using  stir  the  lime  well  up,  and  while  it  is 
thus  mixed  with  the  water  put  in  the  hides  evenly,  so  that 
the  lime  will  settle  on  every  part  of  them.  They  are  to 
remain  here  from  ten  to  fifteen  days,  or  for  three  or  four 
days  after  the  hair  will  rub  off  with  the  finger  completely 
and  with  ease.  While  in  the  liming-vat  they  must  be 
moved  up  and  down  every  other  morning,  to  expose  them 
to  the  air,  and  to  the  equal  action  of  the  lime.  Being  now 
ready  for  unhairing,  cut  each  hide  in  two- by  slitting  them 
along  the  centre  of  the  back  with  a  knife,  forming  them 
into  sides.  Throw  ten  or  twelve  of  these  sides  on  the  flesh- 
ing-beam,  and  strip,  the  hair  off  with  the  knife;  and  as 
they  are  unhaired,  throw  each  one  into  the  vat  of  fresh 
water  to  bait  or  soak.  When  the  ]ot  of  sides  and  skins  in 
hand  have  been  all  unhaired  and  thoroughly  washed,  throw 
them  again,  and  at  once,  on  the  fleshing-beam,  with  the 
grain  or  hair  side  up,  and  work  them  over  (rub  and  press 
them)  with  the  knife  until  all  the  gummy  or  mucilaginous 
matter  is  worked  out.  This  should  be  repeated  two  or 
three  times  during  ten  or  twelve  days,  being  each  time 
baited  anew  in  fresh  water.  And  this  working  over  must 
only  be  done  when  the  sides  feel  soft  and  smooth  to  the 
touch ;  as  they  will  at  times,  from  some  unexplained  cause, 
feel  rough,  at  which  time  they  must  not  be  worked  over. 
While  they  are  thus  boiling  they  must  not  be  neglected,  or 
they  will  soon  spoil.  Tanners  are  iri  the  practice  of  adding 
one  thousandth  part  of  sulphuric  acid  (oil  of  vitriol)  to  the 
last  bait,  which  has  the  effect  of  swelling  the  pores  and 
distending  the  fibres,  and  thus  rendering  the  skins  more 
susceptible  to  the  action  of  the  ooze.  Forty-eight  hours 
generally  suffices  for  this  last  baiting. 

"In  the  meantime,  some  good,  strong  ooze  should  be  pre- 


253 

pared  for  the  first  tanning  process,  called  coloring.  Fill  a 
vat  a  little  more  than  half  full  of  water,  and  add  bark,  in 
the  proportion  of  one  and  one-half  bushels  of  ground,  or 
two  bushels  of  pounded  bark,  to  the  barrel  of  water,  which 
will  bring  «the  vat  up  to  about  two-thirds  full.  "When  the 
bark  has  soaked  from  four  to  five  days,  the  sides  are  put  in, 
and  allowed  to  remain  fifteen  days;  during  which  they 
must  be  once  well  and  carefully  fleshed  and  worked  over, 
and  must  be  drawn  up  and  down  every  morning,  for  the 
first  week  at  least,  and  the  bark  well  plunged  or  stirred  up, 
to  have  them  color  evenly. 

"After  this,  the  vat  being  now  two-thirds  full  of  this 
same  ooze,  after  drawing  out  the  hides  lay  a  good  coating 
of  fresh  bark,  of  say  an  inch  thick,  on  top- of  the  water,  on 
which  it  will  float ;  lay  "on  this  a  side,  spread  out  evenly, 
and  if  it  has  to  be  lapped  over  in  any  part  lay  on  more 
bark  until  it  is  all  well  coated,  taking  care  to  place  those 
hides  at  the  bottom  of  the  vat  now  that  were  at  the  top 
last  time.  On  this  side  lay  an  inch-coating  of  bark,  and 
on  that  another  side,  and  so  on,  with  alternate  layers  of 
barky  until  the  vat  is  full,  or  the  sides  all  laid  away. 

"In  this,  which  is  called  the  first  bark,  the  sides  must  lie 
four  weeks.  They  are  then  drawn  out,  and  the  spent  bark 
taken  out  with  a  skimmer  or  drainer.  The  sides  are  then 
replaced  as  before,  with  alternate  layers  of  fresh  bark,  in 
the  same  ooze,  which  has  acquired  some  additional  strength, 
notwithstanding  the  amount  of  tannin  and  extractive  mat- 
ter contained  in  the  bark  that  has  become  intimately 
combined  with  the  animal  fibre  of  the  hide.  In  this  second 
bark  they  remain  six  weeks  undisturbed,  when  they  receive 
a  third  bark  in  the  same  way,  in  which  they  are  left  another 
six  or  eight  weeks.  Three  barks  will  suffice  to  tan  deer, 
hog,  calf,  and  other  small  skins ;  four  barks  will  make  good 
sole-leather,  but  five  are  preferable. 

"The  tanning  process  being  completed,  sole-leather  is 
taken  out  of  the  vat,  rinsed  effectually,  and  dried  in  the 
shade,  hanging  the  sides  up  by  two  of  their  corners  to 
joists,  where  they  may  remain  until  wanted.     Those  sides 


254 

intended  for  upper  and  harness  leather  (which  are  those  of 
cows,  etc. — the  largest  and  thickest  bullock  hides  being 
used  for  sole-leather),  as  also  deer,  hog,  and  other  small 
skins,  being  thoroughly  rinsed,  are  spread  out  on  a  strong 
table,  with  the  grain  or  hair  side  up,  and  scoured  with  a 
stiff  brush,  like  a  very  stiff  horse-brush,  occasionally  throw- 
ing on  pure  water,  until  all  the  Ooze  is  scoured  out.  Tan- 
ners use  the  edge  of  a  stone,  made  smooth,  to  assist  in 
rubbing  out  the  ooze,  and  all  the  water  that  can  possibly  be 
rubbed  out.  They  also  use  what  they  call  a  slicker,  being  a 
dull  edge  of  copper  of  about  six  or  seven  inches  long  set 
in  a  piece  of  wood,  to  serve  as  a  handle. 

"After  they  are  all  served  thus,  and  rubbed  as  dry  as  pos- 
sible, the  table  is  cleaned  off,  and  the  skins  thrown  back 
upon  it  grain  side  up,  and  are  rubbed  with  tanner's  oil  (cod- 
fish oil)  as  long  as  the  leather  will  receive  it.  Harness 
leather  must  be  completely  saturated.  As  they  are  oiled 
fold  them  up  and  lay  them  aside.  When  they  are  all 
gone  over  lay  one  on  the  table  at  a  time,  flesh  side  up,  and 
with  a  rag  rub  on  all  the  dubbing  that  the  leather  will 
absorb.  Thin  hides  require  but  a  small  quantity ;  harness 
leather  must  have  a  heavy  coating. 

"Dubbing,  which  consists  of  equal  parts  of  tar  and  tal- 
low, melted  together,  and  well  mixed,  must  be  made  the 
day  previous  to  being  used.  Lard  may  be  used  in  place  of 
tallow,  but  will  require  a  lesser  proportion  of  it.  Each 
side  of  leather  is  then  hung  up  by  two  corners  to  joists, 
there  to  remain  until  perfectly  dry,  or  until  wanted. 

"If  iron  or  steel  touches  a  hide  during  the  process  of 
tanning  when  in  the  least  wet,  or  even  moist,  it  will  dis- 
color it,  forming  an  indelible  black  mark. 
.  "To  blacken  harness  or  other  leather,  take  the  skin 
when  completely  dried,  and  if  any  greasy  spots  appear, 
showing  that  more  oil  or  dubbing  has  been  applied  than 
the  leather  could  absorb,  wet  the  spots  with  a  little  strong 
ooze,  and  scrub  them  out  with  the  brush.  Then  apply  a 
coat  of  copperas  (sulphate  of  iron)  dissolved  in  ooze,  until 
the  leather  has  a  good  color  all  over.     After  this,  when 


255 

dry,  put  on  another  good  coat  of  oil.  The  leather  may 
then  be  smoothed  oft"  with  a  rounding  edge  of  polished 
steel,  or  glass,  or  stone." 

The  following  is  from  Southern  Cultivator : 

"Having  tanned  my  hides  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
believing  it  to  my  interest,  I  suppose  it  will  be  profitable  to 
others  who  have  many  raw  hides. 

"I  have  succeeded  well,  and  think  my  leather  firmer, 
and  more  valuable  for  negro  shoes  and  the  coarse  harness 
on  my  farm  than  tan-yard  leather.  My  plan  is  a  much 
cheaper  one  than  Mr.  Affleck's. 

"  I  tan  from  ten  to  fifteen  hides  a  year,  of  various  sizes. 
I  have  two  vats  five  by  seven  feet,  four  feet  deep,  sunk  in 
the  ground  near  a  falling  branch,  so  constructed  at  the  bot- 
tom that  I  can  draw  a  plug  and  wash  and  empty  them.  I 
begin  in  March ;  soak  my  hides  ten  days  in  running  water. 
Two  or  three  times  I  take  them  out  and  give  them  a  good 
rubbing  or  washing.  They  are  then  ready  for  the  lime,  as 
we  call  it.  I  then  put  them  in  one  of  my  vats,  and  divide 
equally  among  them  from  three  and  one-half  to  five  bush- 
els of  good  ashes,  and  two  or  three  quarts  of  lime,  and 
cover  the  whole  in  water.  The  lye  had  better  be  strong, 
and  if  you  err,  err  on  that  side.  Every  few  days  I  take 
them  up,  or  rather  stir  them  up,  and  mix  them  again,  sp 
that  all  parts  shall  be  equally  acted  on  by  the  lye  and  the 
atmosphere,  in  the  top  and  the  bottom  of  the  vat.  If  your 
lye  is  right,  in  ten  or  twelve  days  your  hides  will  be 
thickened  to  two  or  three  times  their  first  thickness — feel 
more  like  a  sheet  of  jelly  than  anything  else — and  the  hair 
will  slip  easily.  Then  slip  off"  the  hair,  and  with  a  drawing- 
knife  or  a  curry  in  g-knife  scrape  off  the  loose  flesh  and  cel- 
lular matter  on  the  other  side,  and  as  much  of  the  lye  as 
you  can,  without  bruising  the  hide ;  and  then  put  them 
back  into  fresh  and  clean  water.  Every  other  day  take 
them  up  and  give  them  a  good  rubbing  or  scouring,  for 
ten  days.  They  are  then  ready  for  the  bark ;  and  by  that 
time  you  can  slip  the  bark  off  your  oak  trees,  and  have  it 


256 

ready  for  the  hides.  I  never  grind  my  bark.  I  take 
it  from  the  tree,  and  with  a  drawing-knife  take  off  the 
rough  on  the  outside,  and  just  beat  it  enough  to  cause  it  to 
lie  flat  in  the  vat.  In  my  other  vat  I  do  all  my  tanning, 
and  commence  with  a  layer  of  bark,  then  of  leather,,  and 
so  on;  and  so  lay  it  in  the  vat  that. every  part  of  each  side 
of  the  leather  shall  lie  against  bark;  and  when  I  am  done, 
I  immerse  this  entirely  in  water. 

"  The  first  year  you  had  better  boil  an  ooze  in  kettles  or 
pots,  and  use  that  instead  of  water,  and  afterward  always 
preserve  your  old  ooze  to  use  next  year  instead  of  water. 
I  let  this  lie  until  the  first  of  August,  and  put  in  a  second 
bark  precisely  as  the  first,  and  let  it  lie  until  some  time  in 
October  or  November,  when  my  leather  is  fully  tanned,  if 
these  directions  have  been  followed.  When  the  leather 
is  well  tanned  it  presents  a  yellow,  spongy  appearance, 
through  and  through  ;  otherwise  you  will  see  a  white  or 
hard  streak  in  the  centre.  When  I  take  it  up  I  scour  the 
ooze  well  out  of  all.  That  I  intend  for  sole-leather  I 
straighten  and  dry;  that  for  upper  leather  I  wash  well, 
then  grease  well  with  the  cheapest  oil  I  have,  and  after  dry- 
ing eight  or  ten  days  I  moisten  it,  curry  off"  the  spongy, 
soft  part  from  the  flesh  side,  and  when  moist,  beat  it  or 
break  it  over  some  rough  surface  until  it  is  comparatiyely 
S,oft,  and  the  grain  side  is  all  puckered  up,  or  wrinkled  into 
small  wrinkles.  Then,  when  my  leather  is  thoroughly 
dried  and  shrunk,  it  is  fit  for  use." 

Quereits  fakata.  Mx.  Spanish  oak.  According  to  Elliot, 
common  on  the  sea-coast;  collected  but  sparingly  in  St. 
John's ;  Richland ;  grows  also  in  Georgia ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston,  Bachman  ;  Newberu. 

Chap.  Therap.  and  Mat.  Med.  ii,  493 ;  TJ.  S.  Disp.  581 ; 
Bart.  Essay  on  the  M.  Med. ;  Alibert,  Nouv.  Elems.  de 
Therap.  193 ;  Pink  Med.  Mus.  11 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet, 
de  M.  Med.  v,  586  ;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  170.  This  is 
possessed  of  the  astringent  qualities  characterizing  the 
genus ;  it  has  not,  however,  the  purgative  property  found 


257 

in  the  Q.  tinctoria.  It  is  employed  as  an  astringent  wash  for 
gangrene.  A  decoction  is  administered  with  great  success 
in  dysentery,  pulmonary,  and  uterine  hemorrhage,  and 
some  have  said,  in  intermittent  fever.  See  Q.  tinctoria  and 
alba.  In  domestic  practice,  where  an  easily  obtained  and 
efficient  astringent  is  required,  this,  and  the  more  common 
species,  the  Q.  rubra,  are  of  no  little  value.  They  are  used 
to  a  large  extent  on  the  plantations  in  South  Carolina. 

Quercus  alba,    L.     White  oak.     Diffused ;    St.    John's ; 
vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  ISTewbern.    Fl.  May. 

II.  S.  Disp.  582 ;  Iioyle,  Mat.  Med.  659  ;  Griffith,  Med. 
Bot.  586.  The  bark  is  officinal,  and  is  generally  used  in 
similar  cases  with  the  above,  with  the  exceptions  before 
mentioned.  By  some  it  is  preferred  to  the  others  on 
account  of  its  not  acting  on  the  bowels.  The  decoction 
is  sometimes  used  as  an  injection  in  leucorrhcea  and  gon- 
orrhoea. The  bark  contains  tannin,  gallic  acid,  and  bitter 
extractive,  the  former  predominating.  Bark  officinal. 
Young  bark  preferable.  The  whiter  bark,  and  the  delicate 
and  finely  lobed  leaves,  with  the  general  neat  appearance 
of  the  tree,  serve  to  distinguish  this  from  the  other  varieties 
of  the  oak,  than  which  it  is  more  acceptable  to  the  stomach. 
All,  however,  are  valuable  for  external  application.  Good 
collected  at  all  seasons.  Astringent,  somewhat  tonic. 
Powder — dose,  from  one  half-drachm  to  one  drachm.  Ex- 
tract—  dose,  half  that  of  the  powder.  Decoction — bark 
bruised,  one  ounce;  water,  three  half-pints;  boil  to  one 
pint.  Dose,  one  wineglassful.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  of  our  forest  trees,  and  it  is  largely  emplo}<ed  for 
manufacturing  purposes,  and  in  the  domestic  economy  of 
the  plantations  in  the  Confederate  States.  The  wood  is 
hard  and  durable.  It  is  employed,  when  stripped,  in  mak- 
ing plantation  baskets,  and  chair  bottoms. 

The  following  table  is  the  result  of  the  experiments  of 
Barlow  upon  the  "Absolute  strength  of  different  kinds  of 
wood  drawn  in  the  direction   of  their  fibres."     Wilson's 
17 


258 


Rural  Cy.c.  on  the  streugth  of  materials  may  be  consulted 
Article  from  Renwick's  Elements  of  Mechanics: 

Boxwood 20,000  lbs. 

Ash 17,000 


Teak 15,000 

Norway  Fir 12,000 

Beech 11,000 

Canada  Fir 11,000 

Russia  Fir 10,700 

Pitch  Pine 10,400 

"Absolute  cohesive  strength  of  wood  drawn  in  a  direc 
tion  at  right  angles  to  the  fibres:" 


English  Oak 10,000  lbs. 

Am.  White  Pine 9,900 

Pear  Tree ...  9,800 

Mahogany 800 

Elm 5,800 

Cast-steel  was 140,000 

And  Gold 80,000 


Teak ...818  lbs. 

Am.  White  Pine 757 

Norway  Fir 648 

Beech 615 

English  Oak 598 

The  following  table  gives  the  "respective  strength  of 
various  substances  :" 


Canada  Oak 588  lbs. 

Pitch  Pine 588 

Elm 509 

Ash ....359 


Metals. 
Wrought-iron,  Swedish  .  .22,000  lbs 

"           English.  ..18,000 
Cast-iron 16,000 


Wood. 

Teak 4,900  lbs. 

Ash 4,050 

Canada   Oak 3,500 

English  Oak 3,350 

Pitch  Pine 3,250 

Beech 3,100 

Norway  Fir 2,950 

Am.  White  Pine 2,200 

Elm 1,013 

English  oak  resisted  a  greater  amount  of  pressure,  by 
Rennie's  experiments,  than  many  other  kinds  of  wood; 
three  times  as  much  as  elm,  for  example.  See,  also,  article 
"Timber,  "  in  Rural  Cyc,  for  method  of  preserving,  rela- 
tive strength,  etc.  In  England  the  shipwright  considers 
that  three  years  are  required  thoroughly  to  season  timber. 
Timber  is  best  preserved  by  immersion  in  water  for  six 
months,  and  the  exposure  to  shade  for  another  six  months. 
The  white  oak  cleaves  and  splits  readily,  and  is  used  in 
making  plantation  baskets.  I  have  seen  it  used  in  place  of 
cane  .in  making  chair  seats.  The  white  oak  lasts  longer  in 
weather  than  hickory. 


259 

White  Oak  Baling. — The  Columbia  Guardian  notices  a 
bale  of  cotton,  in  which  white  oak  slats,  basket  fashion, 
take  the  place  of  gunny  bagging,  and  hoops  of  the  same 
wood  take  the  place  of  rope.  This  device  is  the  work  of 
IT  2S\  Garter,  of  Laurens,  who  states  that  with  machinery 
for  cutting  the  slats,  two  hands  can  get  out  enough  for  one 
bale  in  twenty  minutes. 

I  will  introduce  under  the  genera  "Quercus"  and 
"Carya"  what  I  have  thought  useful  on  the  subject  of 
ashes,  pearlashes,  potash,  soap,  etc.  Information  is  re- 
quired on  these  invaluable  substances.  For  processes,  see 
Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts.  For  "  soda,"  see  "Salsola"  in 
this  paper. 

"A  cement  for  cisterns,  as  hard  as  marble,  and  impenetrable 
by  water  forever,"  is  made  of  wood  ashes  two  parts,  clay 
three  parts,  sand  one  part,  mixed  with  oil — all  ingredients 
easily  obtained. 

"  Concentrated  Lye"  is  a  very  pare  preparation  of  caustic 
soda,  or  soda  ash  purified. 

The  following  is  the  method  of  making  hard  soap  with 
this  substance,  which  is  preferable  to  potash  or  any  of  its 
preparations;  it  is  also  very  economical:  "One  half-box 
of  concentrated  lye,  four  pounds  of  grease,  one  pound  of 
rosin,  five  gallons  of  water.  Boil  all  together  until  the 
soap  is  made — a  point  easily  determined ;  then  add  a  half 
pint  of  salt  dissolved  in  a  quart  of  water,  boil  a  few 
minutes  longer,  and  pour  off  into  tubs  to  harden.  This 
will  yield  about  thirty  pounds  of  excellent  hard  soap,  at  a 
cost  of  about  two  and  a  half  cents  per  pound." 

The  following  general  deduction,  which  is  instructive, 
is  made  in  Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopaedia,  art.  "Ashes": 
"  Trees  in  a  general  way,  make  a  plentiful  yield  of  potash, 
somewhat  in  the  degree  of  their  hardness,  their  heaviness, 
and  the  closeness  of  their  texture ;  and  the  chief  of  them 
may  upon  this  principle  be  distributed  into  four  classes — 
first,  the  oak,  the  ash,  the  yew,  the  beech,  the  chestnut,  the 
pear,  the  crab,  the  blackthorn  and  the  broom;  second,  the 
elm,  maple,  hornbeam,  and  white-thorn ;  third,  the  pines  and 


260 

firs;  and  fourth,  the  birch,  alder,  poplar,  hazel,  and  willow. 
"When  six  loads  of  the  ashes  of  the  first  class  are  sufficient 
for  an  acre  of  land,  ten  or  twelve  loads  of  the  ashes  of  the 
fourth  class  may  be  required."  It  will  thus  be  seen  what 
room  there  is  for  selection  in  using  trees  for  ashes  or  for 
the  production  of  potash.  For  further  information  on  pot- 
ash, ashes,  soaps,  consult  "Garya,"  hickory,  in  this  paper. 

Table  of  mean  results  of  experiments  of  Messrs.  Ker- 
wan,  Vauquelin,  and  Pertues,  upon  ten  thousand  parts  of 
each  plant — amount  of  potash  in  each — (Chaptal) : 

Elm 39  of  potash.  Fern 62  of  potash. 

Oak 15         "  Cow  Thistle 196 

Beech 12         "  Wormwood 730 

Vine 55         "  Vetches 275 

Poplar 7         "  [Beans 200 

Thistles 53         "  Fumitory 890 

In  selecting  plants  to  burn  for  potash,  which  can  be  done 
on  any  plantation,  those  which  are  thus  seen  to  yield  most 
should  be  chosen.  "Grasses,  leaves,  the  stalks  of  French 
beans,  of  peas,  melons,  gourds,  cabbages,  artichokes,  po- 
tatoes, maize,  and  garget,  are  very  rich  in  this  alkali." 
Thistles,  nettles,  broom-heath,  brambles,  ferns,  should  all 
be  collected.  The  fumitory  and  wormwood  (exceedingly 
rich  in  potash)  are  both  grown  in  the  Confederate  States. 
The  plants  are  first  dried  and  then  burned,  and  the  ashes 
leached,  which  should  be  repeated.  Hot  water  is  better 
than  cold.  The  potash  can  easily  be  extracted  from  the 
lye  by  evaporation.  "The  process,"  says  Ghaptal,  "may 
be  commenced  in  a  copper  boiler,  into  which  a  very  fine 
stream  of  the  lye  should  flow  to  replace  that  which  evapo- 
rates; when  the  liquor  has  acquired  the  consistency  of 
honey  it  should  be  put  into  iron  boilers  to  complete  the 
operation.  As  the  substance  thickens,  care  must  be  taken 
to  remove  that  portion  of  it  which  adheres  to  the  sides, 
and  to  stir  the  whole  carefully  with  iron  spatulas.  "When 
the  substance  congeals  and  becomes  solid  upon  being 
exposed  to  the  air,  it  is  poured  into  casks,  and  thrown  into 


261 

commerce,  under  the  name  of  salts.  The  whole  process  is 
simple,  and  may  be- conducted  upon  our  farms  without  any 
difficulty."  Pearlash  may  be  procured  from  the  potash  by 
calcination.     See  treatises  on  the  arts. 

The  following  observations  may  be  found  useful  to  the 
soap  manufacturer,  even  if  he  exists  in  the  person  of  a 
planter  or  farmer,  which  I  quote  from  Thornton's  Family 
Herbal :  In  the  large  manufactories  the  lye  for  making 
soap  should  be  made  no  stronger  than  to  float  a  new  laid 
egg  when  the  workmen  begin  to  form  the  mixture.  The 
oil  or  tallow  is  first  boiled  with  a  weak  lye  until  the  whole 
is  formed  into  a  saponaceous  compound.  It  is  then  kept 
boiling  with  a  stronger  lye  until  it  acquires  a  considerable 
consistence,  and  seems  to  be  separating  from  the  fluid  be- 
low. This  separation  is  a  very  material  part  of  the  opera- 
tion, and  to  effect  it  completely  a  quantity  of  common  salt 
is  added;  the  materials  are  continually  boiled  for  three  or 
four  hours,  and  then  the  fire  is  withdrawn.  The  soap  will 
now  be  found  united  at  the  top  of  the  liquor,  or  what  is 
called  the  waste  lye,  which  is  of  no  further  use,  and  is  there- 
fore drawn  off.  The  soap  is  now  melted  for  the  last  time 
with  a  lye,  or  even  with  water.  It  is  then  allowed  to  cool, 
and  afterward  cast  into  wooden  frames.  The  last  melting 
is  important,  as  giving  compactness.  A  solution  of  sul- 
phate of  iron  will  mottle  soap  by  dispersing  it  before  the 
soap  hardens  throughout  the  mass. 

A  most  economical  mode  of  washing,  which  has  been 
employed  by  farmers,  which  reduces  the  labor  of  days  to  that 
of  a  few  hours,  might  be  adopted  in  our  armies.  The  wash- 
ing of  an  entire  regiment,  when  in  garrison  or  in  cities, 
might  be  done  systematically  and  collectively  with  far  less 
exposure  and  loss  of  time.  I  obtain  the  method  from  some 
of  the  journals: 

On  the  night  preceding  the  day  intended  to  be  set  apart 
for  washing,  the  clothes,  white  and  colored,  coarse  and  fine, 
are  put  in  tubs  of  clear  water,  where  they  remain  all  night. 
A  large  size  vessel,  the  larger  the  better,  is  half  filled  with 
water,  which  is  raised  to  the  boiling  point.     To  one  con- 


262 

taining  sixty  gallons  put  two  teaspoon  fills  of  sal  soda,  one 
quart  of  soft  soap,  and  one  quart  of  lime-water,  made  by- 
pouring  three  gallons  of  water  on  one  quart  of  lime  the 
night  previous,  so  that  it  may  have  had  time  to  settle,  and 
in  proportion  if  smaller  vessels  are  used  ;  stir  the  water  and 
ingredients  well  together,  when  the  clothes  are  put  in,  and 
boiled  rapidly  for  an  hour;  they  are  then  taken  out  and 
rinsed  well.  The  same  lime-water  may  be  kept  until  it  is 
all  consumed.  The  receipt  for  making  the  soap  is  as  fol- 
lows: The  ingredients  for  one  hundred  pounds  do  not  cost 
more  than  one  dollar  aud  fifty  cents.  Take  six  pounds  of 
potash,  four  pounds  of  lard,  one-fourth  pound  of  rosin  ; 
beat  up  the  rosin,  mix  all  together  well,  and  set  aside  for 
five  days  ;  then  put  the  whole  in  a  ten  gallon  cask  of  warm 
water,  and  stir  twice  a  day  for  ten  days ;  at  the  expiration 
of  which  time,  or  sooner,  you  will  have  one  hundred  pounds 
of  excellent  soap.  Strong  lye-water  or  concentrated  lye 
may  perhaps  take  the  place  of  the  potash.  A  gill  of  alco- 
hol added  to  a  gallon  of  soft  soap,  applied  to  clothes  in  the 
usual  way,  and  soaked  several  hours  before  washing,  fur- 
nishes an  economical  method. 

Quercus  rubra.  lied  oak.  Diffused ;  grows  in  great 
abundance;  St.  John's;  Charleston;  ISFewbern.    Fl.  April. 

IT.  S.  Disp. ;  Griffith,  Mod.  Bot.  587.  Employed,  like 
the  others,  as  an  astringent.  It  is  easily  obtained,  and 
convenientl}T  prescribed.  I  have  myself  found  the  bark 
of  the  tree  of  some  service  among  the  negroes,  in  sev- 
eral cases  where  a  tonic  astringent  injection  was  required, 
using  it  in  one  of  prolapsus  uteri,  where  the  organ  be- 
came chafed  and  painful  from  exposure.  The  decoction 
of  the  bark,  with  sulphate  of  copper,  is  employed  on  the 
plantations  to  dye  woollens  of  a  green  or  black  color,  and 
for  tanning  leather.  Hickory  bark,  with  copperas,  furnishes 
an  olive  color;  maple  gives  a  purple  dye,  the  tea  leaf  (Hopea 
tinctoria)  a  yellow,  and  white  oak  a  brown.  Walnut  leaves 
or  roots,  without  copperas,  repeatedly  boiled,  yield  a  black 
dye.     Blacksmiths'  dust  may  be  used  in  place  of  copperas. 


268 

The  wood  is  not  so  durable  as  that  of  the  Q.  alba,  but  it  is 
much  used  for  domestic  purposes. 

Quercus  montana,  Wilkl.  Rocky  soils  in  the  Alleghany 
mountains  of  South  Carolina.  Used  as  a  substitute  for  the 
above. 

Quercus  virens,  Aiton.  Live-oak.  Grows  abundantly  on 
the  sea-coast,  for  the  space  of  forty  miles  from  the  ocean ; 
Newbern.     Fl.  June. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  581 ;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  i,  376.  This  tree  is 
of  quick  growth,  and  attains  a  large  size  in  South  Caro- 
lina. Its  great  value  for  manufacturing  purposes,  ship- 
building, etc.,  is  well  known.  It  is  often  exported  for 
these  purposes,  to  great  advantage.  Its  branches  extend 
out  to  some  distance,  and  it  affords  one  of  our  most  ven- 
erable, magnificent,  and  ornamental  shade  trees,  suited  for 
avenues.      The  acorns  are  edible. 

Density  of  Wood. — I  introduce  the  following  under 
Quercus  virens.  Count  Chaptal,  in  his  Chemistry  applied 
to  Agriculture,  makes  the  following  remarks  :  "  Soil,  ex- 
posure, climate,  and  season  modify  in  a  remarkable  man- 
ner the  fibre  of  vegetables  of  the  same  kind.  Vegetables 
raised  in  a  dry  and  arid  soil  have  a  much  harder  and  more 
compact  texture  than  those  of  the  same  kind  raised  in  a 
moist  and  rich  soil ;  they  have  more  perfume,  contain  a 
greater  quan-tity  of  volatile  oil,  are  decomposed  with  more 
difficulty,  and  during  the  combustion  give  out  a  much 
more  intense  heat.  Every  one  knows  that  thickets  having 
a  southern  exposure  yield  better  fuel  than  those  which  lie 
toward  the  north;  the  wood  is  more  solid,  and  after  having 
been  cut,  it  will  resist  for  a  longer  time  the  action  of  air 
and  water.  This  fact  was  observed  by  Pliny,  in  regard  to 
the  woods  of  the  Appenines." 

The  difference  between  the  hardness  of  trees  growing  in 
swamps  and  highlands  is,  I  believe,  referred  to  by  Bous- 
singault.  The  locality  and  the  season  of  the  year  should 
have  an  influence  upon  the  tree,  upon  its  structure,  and 


264 

secretions,  and  the}7  should  be  considered,  in  reference  to 
the  growth  of  timber  for  ships,  implements,  etc.  The  best 
time  for  cutting  wood  is  in  the  end  of  the  winter,  when  the 
texture  is  hardened  and  condensed  by  the  cold.  Boussin- 
gault,  in  his  work  on  Scientific  Agriculture,  describes  a 
French  method  of  preserving  timber,  superior  to  the  Kyan- 
ized,  by  the  absorption  of  the  salts  of  iron.  I  would  refer 
the  curious  reader  to  a  paper,  giving  a  most  remarkable 
account  of  the  enormous  size  and  height  of  the  trees,  and 
the  vegetable  wonders  of  California,  in  Patent  Office  Re- 
ports, p.  4,  1851,  by  Win.  A.  Williams.  Trees  sixty-eight 
feet  in  circumference,  and  three  hundred  and  eight}7  feet  in 
height,  without  a  branch  for  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet ; 
vegetables  relatively  large.  See  Boussingault's  work  for 
similar  statements ;  also,  paper  in  Patent  Office  Reports  on 
Agriculture,  p.  655,  1851,  by  Thomas  Eubank,  Commis- 
sioner, containing  extracts  from  writings  of  M.  M.  Na.udin 
and  Lecoq  (report  to  the  French  Academy),  on  the  taming 
of  plants  by  cultivation;  they  "tamed  every  individual 
species  of  the  fierce  family  of  thistles,"  converting  them 
into  a  savory  vegetable. 

It  is  well  known,  says  a  writer  in  the  Patent  Office  Re- 
ports, 1852,  p.  257,  that  the  most  valuable  timber  is  that 
which  has  attained  its  growth  with  most  light  and  air. 
The  wagon-maker  takes  care  to  combine  toughness  and  du- 
rability by  selecting  his  wood  from  trees  of  second  growth, 
or  from  trees  of  first  growth  that  from  infancy  have  stood 
alone,  or  far  apart.  I  have  ascertained,  in  conversation 
with  machinists  and  wood-cutters,  that  they  separate  many 
species  of  useful  trees  into  two  varieties,  and  make  careful 
selection  in  cutting  for  the  shop. 

Quercus  prinos,  L.  Vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  Newbern. 
This  may  be  used  medicinally  as  a  substitute  for  the 
Q.  alba. 

Quercus  suber.     Cork  tree.     Exotic. 

The  Patent  Office  has  distributed  for  years  past  seeds 


265 

and  plants  of  the  cork  tree.  See  Reports,  1854,  p.  32, 
for  mode  of  culture  and  gathering  of  cork;  and  article 
on  "Properties  and  Uses  of  Cork  Tree."  Patent  Office 
Reports,  1858,  p.  335. 

Quercus. 

For  method  of  raising  acorn-hearing  oaks,  fin-  feeding 
of  hogs,  varieties,  etc.,  see  Wilson's  Rural  Cyclop.,  art. 
"Acorn,"  "Oak."  In  some  portions  of  England  hogs  are 
raised  almost  entirely  upon  acorns,  and  with  but  a  limited, 
supply  of  grain  just  before  killing.  "  The  farmers  of 
Gloucestershire  bestow  near!}'  as  much  care  upon  the  fruit 
of  their  oak  trees  as  upon  the  produce  of  their  orchards  '■> 
they  seldom  sell  their  acorns,  yet  usually  estimate  their 
value  at  from  Is.  6d.  to  2s.  per  bushel,"  etc.  Wilson. 
See  also  Boutcher's  "thoroughly  practical"  Treatise  on 
Forest  Trees.  See  Boussingault's  Agricultural  Chemistry, 
and  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc,  for  method  of  preserving  timber. 

Betulace^e.     (The  Birch  Tribe.) 
Bark  astringent ;  sometimes  employed  as  a  febrifuge. 

Betula  lenta,  L.  Sweet  birch ;  cherry  birch ;  mountain 
mahogany.     Mountain  ridges  of  South  Carolina. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1233.  The  bark  and  leaves  possess  a  very 
aromatic  flavor.  An  infusion  of  them  is  useful  as  an  agree- 
able, gently  stimulant,  and  diaphoretic  drink.  The  oil, 
obtained  by  distillation  from  the  bark,  has  been  shown  by 
Proctor  to  be  similar  to  that  of  the  Gaultheria  procumbens. 
(See  that  plant.)  It  also  affords  a  saccharine  liquor.  Am. 
Journal  Pharm.  xv,  213;  Ell.  Bot.  ii,  617.  The  wood, 
possessing  a  fine  grain,  which  is  susceptible  of  a  beautiful 
polish,  is  much  used  by  cabinet-makers.  It  would  be 
adapted  to  the  fine  work  on  railroad  cars.  Is  the  hand- 
somest of  the  species,  and  has  the  finest  timber.  "The 
timber,  when  fresh  cut,  has  a  rosy  tint,  and  afterward 
deepens  in  color  by  exposure.  It  has  a  fine,  close  grain, 
and  is  susceptible  of  a  very  high  polish.     It  is  used  for  sofas, 


266 

arm-chairs,  the  frames  of  coach  panels,  and  various  other 
purposes.  "     "Wilson  ;  Miehaux's  Travels,  etc. 

"The  Sap  of  the  Birch  tree  reddens  turnsole  intensely.  It 
is  colorless,  and  has  a  sweet  taste.  The  water  which  forms 
a  greater  part  of  it  holds  in  solution  sugar,  extractive 
matter,  acetate  of  lime,  acetate  of  alumina,  and  acetate  of 
potash.  When  properly  concentrated  by  evaporation,  it 
ferments  on  the  addition  of  yeast,  and  then  yields  alcohol 
on  distillation.  The  presence  of  the  acetate  of  alumina 
may  appear  extraordinary  in  the  sap  for  this  reason,  that 
alumina  has  not  yet  been  discovered  in  the  ashes  of  the 
birch  tree."     Boussingault's  Rural  Econ.  p.  65,  ed.  1857. 

Betula  nigra,  Linn.  B.  rubra,  Mx.  Red  birch.  Vicinity 
of  Charleston ;  collected  on  the  Santee  river,  St.  John's, 
Berkley;  Newbern.     Fl.  March. 

Ind.  Bot.  Dr.  Green  states  that  a  strong  decoction  of 
the  bark  cured  cases  of  putrid  sore  throat.  It  is  useful  also 
in  pleurisy.  Lindley  says  that  the  black  birch  of  North 
America  is  one  of  the  hardest  and  most  valuable  we  possess. 
This  might  suit  the  purposes  of  the  engraver,  and  in  the 
construction  of  any  implements  requiring  wood  of  firm 
texture.  We  have  also  the  yellow  and  the  cherry  birch. 
The  shoots  and  the  twigs  of  the  B.  lanulosa,  or  B.  nigra, 
said  by  Wilson  to  grow  in  the  Carolinas,  are  used  for 
hoops,  and  "  made  into  excellent  street  brooms."  Its 
wood  is  compact,  nearly  white,  and  streaked  longitudi- 
nally, and  useful  for  various  economical  purposes.  Con- 
sult "Alnics  semdata." 

Abuts  serrulata,  Aitou.  Alder.  Grows  along  rivulets, 
Charleston  district  ;  Richland,  Prof.  Gibbes ;  Newbern. 
Fl.  April. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1224.  The  bark  is  astringent.  1ST.  Y.  Jour- 
nal Med.  v,  7,  8.  It  had  for  a  long  time  been  neglected  ; 
but  in  the  article  referred  to  the  decoction  is  spoken 
highly  of  as  an  alterative  and  astringent  in  scrofula,  and 
cutaneous  diseases,  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  very  success- 


267 

fill  in  hsematuria ;  in  these  affections  producing  beneficial 
results  where  all  other  means  had  failed.  Shec,  in  his 
Flora  Carol.,  spoke  of  the  alder  tags,  as  being  of  great 
service,  on  account  of  their  alterative  powers  ;  a  decoction 
of  the  leaves  has  also  been  used  to  suppress  hemorrhage, 
and  they  have  been  found  effectual  in  relieving  dyspepsia 
and  bowel  complaints.  An  astringent  decoction  may  be 
made  of  the  bark,  leaves,  or  tags — acting  also  as  a  diuretic. 
A  tincture  may  also  be  used.  Poultices  made  of  them  are 
used  as  a  local  application  to  tumors,  sprains,  swellings, 
etc.  The  leaves  are  applied  externally  to  wounds  and 
ulcers.  The  inner  bark  of  the  root  is  emetic,  and  it  has 
been  given  in  intermittents.  It  is  used  by  tanners  and 
dyers;  the  shoots,  cut  in  March,  will  impart  a  cinnamon 
color  to  cloths  and  flannels.  The  black  alder  is  used  to 
color  flannels:  "Take  the  bark,  boil  it  well,  then  skim,  or 
strain  it  well ;  wet  the  cloth  in  a  pretty  strong  lye,  and  dip 
it  into  the  alder  liquor ;  let  it  remain  till  cool  enough  to 
wring,  and  it  gives  an  indelible  orange  color."  The  wood 
does  not  absorb  water  easily,  and  is  employed  in  making- 
posts,  and  any  structure  liable  to  be  submerged.  The 
English  Alnus  (A.  glutinosa)  is  planted  along  the  side  of 
water-courses,  rivulets,  and  sand-banks,  to  prevent  the  en- 
croachment of  water  by  the  hardening  and  binding  influ- 
ence of  the  roots  upon  the  soil,  and  also  as  a  border  to 
conceal  unsightly  or  boggy  lands.  The  wood  is  suited  for 
pipes,  pump-trees,  and  all  kinds  of  subaqueous  wood-work, 
"where  it  will  harden  like  a  very  stone,"  says  an  old 
writer;  now  superseded,  says  Wilson,  "for  even  these 
purposes  by  the  Kyanized  wood  of  more  close  grained 
trees."  The  wood  of  this  is  also  used  for  various  purposes 
of  the  turner,  for  the  cogs  of  wheels,  etc.  "Charcoal  made 
of  its  timber  has  long  been  highly  valued  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  gunpowder."  Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopaedia,  art. 
Alnus.  I  do  not  know  how  closely  our  A.  serrulata  and 
A.  viridis  resemble  the  English  tree.  The  bark  of  alders  is 
astringent,  and  is  used  by  tanners  and  dyers  ;  see  Wilson. 
It  is,  in  other  wTords,  rich  in  tannin.     The  birch  (JBetula 


268 

nigra,  L.),  in  fact  all  of  our  species,  no  doubt,  contain  a 
certain  proportion  of  the  gummy,  oily  substance  peculiar 
to  the  B.  alba  of  England.  The  flowers  of  the  latter  are 
highly  odoriferous,  and  the  oil  is  collected.  The  bark  is 
also  used  by  the  tanner.  Russia  skins  are  said  to  be  tanned 
with  it,  hence  the  peculiar  odor.  Our  species  of  birch  may 
no  doubt  be  used  for  similar  purposes.  I  have  little  doubt, 
in  consideration  of  the  possession  of  an  astringent  and  oily, 
resinous  principle,  that  a  tincture  of  the  catkins  would 
.serve  as  an  excellent  astringent,  stimulating  diuretic,  to  be 
used  in  gleet,  gonorrhoea,  and  in  chronic  diseases  of  the 
genito-urinary  apparatus. 

Birch  wine  is  also  made  in  England  from  the  sap  of  the 
birch.  The  papery  sheets  of  birch  bark  were  used  as  a 
writing  material. 

URiTiCACEiE.     [The  Nettle  Tribe.) 
Urtica  urens,  L.    Dwarf  nettle.     Grows  around  Beaufort ; 
collected    in    Fairfield   district;    Ell.    says   at   St.   Mary's, 
Georgia;  vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach.     Fl.  February. 

Murray's  App.  Med.  iv,  592 ;  Bull.  Plarites  Yen.  de 
France,  170.  It  causes  an  excessive  discharge  of  urine, 
and  Serapion  said  that  thirty  grains  of  it  would  purge.  In 
the  Supplement  to  the  Diet,  de  Mat.  Med.  by  Mer.  and  de 
L.,  1846,  p.  719,  we  have  an  account  of  the  remarkable 
haemostatic  virtues  of  this  and  the  U.  dioica,  also  found  in 
South  Carolina.  It  had  originally  obtained  some  favor  in 
this  respect,  and  was  used  by  Sydenham,  but  had  for  a  long 
time  fallen  into  disrepute.  It  has  been  reserved  for  M. 
Guinestet  to  restore  the  public  confidence  in  it;  and  it  is 
now  spoken  favorably  of  by  Chomel,  Lange,  and  Desbois. 
Guinestet  advises  it  in  hemorrhage,  and  reports  five  cases 
of  uterine  hemorrhage  in  which  bleeding  was  instantly  ar- 
rested ;  two  to  four  ounces  of  the  juice  were  given,  taken 
internally,  and  in  the  form  of  injection.  It  has  also  been 
successfully  employed  in  heematemesis  and  epistaxis,  and 
cases  of  two  months  duration  were  cured.  The  objections 
of  others  who  were  not  so  successful  have  been  satisfactorily 


269 

answered,  its  pretended  therapeutic  action  being  denied  hj 
Drs.  Kaseiakewies  and  Fiard,  who  report  a  case  of  poison- 
ing from  the  internal  use  of  two  ounces  of  the  concentrated 
decoction.  The  supporters  have  produced  well  sustained 
arguments  destroying  the  force  of  these  statements;  and 
Merat  himself  speaks  favorably  of  it  in  an  official  report 
made  to  the  Academy,  and  published  in  the  Bull,  de 
Therap.;  he  furnishes  a  case  of  nasal  hemorrhage,  occurring 
in  a  ffirl  who  was  sriving  birth  to  a  child,  and  who  was  at 
the  same  time  flooding,  both  of  which  he  succeeded  in 
arresting  with  the  juice  of  this  plant,  when  everything  else 
had  failed.  Many  others  have  used  it  with  very  favorable 
results  in  this  and  in  leucorrhoea.  "Sperons,"  adds  the 
author  of  the  Diet,  de  M.  Med.,  "  que  l'experience  con- 
firmera  ces  heureux  resultats.  "  See  Amusat's,  Cheval- 
lier's,  and  Merat's  Rapport  "  stir  l'emploi  du  sue  d'ortie 
comme  antihemorragique,"  made  in  1846,  in  the  Bull,  de 
l'Acad.  Royale  de  Med.  ix,  1015.  Dr.  Menicucci,  of  Rome, 
introduces  into  the  vagina  a  sponge  soaked  in  the  juice  ; 
and  it  may  be  at  the  same  time  administered  internally. 
See  Abeilhe  Medicale,  Mai,  1846.  M.  Griiinestet  attributes 
its  hamiostatic  virtues  to  a  constituent  which  coagulates 
milk  in  the  same  way  that  poisons  do.  See  a  letter  of 
Merat,  relating  a  case  of  uterine  hemorrhage  existing  for 
two  months,  which  was  cured  by  the  juice  of  the  U.  dioica 
(in  French).  Idem,  x,  364,  1845  ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  vi,  875 ; 
Journal  de  Med.  vi,  492.  By  analysis,  it  contains  a  car- 
bonate, ammonia,  chlorophyl,  mucus,  black  coloring  matter, 
gallic  acid,  tannin,  and  nitrate  of  potash,  less  abundant 
than  in  the  U.  dioica  (which  see). 

Induced  by  these  notices  to  test  it  myself,  I  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  quantity  of  the  U.  wrens  from  Fairfield  district, 
S.  C.  Assisted  by  Dr.  R.  A.  Kinloch,  of  Charleston,  I  pro- 
ceeded to  expose  and  divide  the  right  common  carotid 
arteries  of  two  sheep,  upon  the  bleeding  orifices  of  which 
was  applied  lint  covered  with  a  sponge  soaked  in  the  cold 
infusion  and  the  decoction  respectively.  The  results  were 
as  follows :   the  first  died  from  improper  manipulation  ;  in 


270 

the  second,  the  bleeding  ceased  entirely — the  animal  was 
killed,  however,  a  short  time  afterward.  The  juice  of  the 
plant  seemed  to  have  some  effect  in  coagulating  fresh  blood 
poured  out  into  the  hand.  Upon  giving  the  cold  infusion, 
made  with  two  ounces  of  the  plant  to  a  pint  of  water,  in 
doses  of  a  wineglassful  four  times  a  day,  to  a  patient  affect- 
ed with  chronic  hematuria,  who  had  used  tannin,  gallic 
acid,  and  the  infusion  of  buchu  ineffectually,  she  confessed 
having  derived  decided  relief  from  it,  but  complained  of  its 
having  brought  out  an  eruption  over  the  body.  The  ex- 
periments in  both  cases  are  obviously  too  meagre  to  enable 
me  to  pronounce  positively  as  to  the  amount  of  power  the 
plant  possesses.  Celsus  employed  the  Urtica  in  paralysis. 
De  Re  Medica,  1.  iii,  27  ;  Bull,  des  Sci.  Med.  ix,  77.  Flag- 
ellation with  the  branches,  which,  it  is  well  known,  contain 
stings  which  produce  great  irritation,  followed  by  inflam- 
mation, has  been  recommended  for  bringing  out  cutaneous 
and  febrile  eruptions,  as  in  scarlatina,  in  apoplexy,  in  in- 
sensibility of  organs,  in  chronic  rheumatism,  and  in  fact 
wherever  a  powerful  external  stimulating  revulsive  is  re- 
quired. For  this  purpose  it  has  even  been  employed  in  the 
algid  period  of  incurable  cholera  morbus.  Dr.  Marchand, 
Seance  de  1'Acad.  Roy.  de  Med.  ii,  July,  1832  ;  J.  Ste- 
voght,  Diss,  de  Urtica,  1707  ;  J.  Francus,  Tractatus  Singu- 
laris  de  Urtica  U rente,  etc.  Dilleng,  1726.  Both  this 
and  the  U.  dioica  are  found  in  the  Confederate  States,  and 
I  would  invite  farther  and  particular  examination  into 
properties  which  are  of  so  valuable  a  description.  I  ob- 
serve no  notice  of  these  experiments  in  the  American 
works.  The  minute  structure  of  the  sting  is  said  to  be 
very  curious. 

Urtica  dioica,  L.  Common  or  red  dead  nettle.  Grows 
along  roads  and  fences;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  Aug. 

Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  iii,  338.  It  is  applied  extensively  as 
a  stimulating  and-  antiseptic  astringent. and  detersive,  the 
herb  and  seed  being  used;  the  decoction  is  also  alluded  to 
in  this  work  as  being  used  in  hemorrhage,  bloody  urine, 


271 

etc.  Urtication  with  this  also  was  employed  in  rheumatism, 
paralysis,  etc.  (See  U.  wrens.)  The  root  is  advised  in  jaun- 
dice and  nephritic  diseases.  Fl.  Scotica,  57.  A  rennet  was 
made  with  a  strong  decoction.  One  quart  of  salt  was  added 
to  three  pints  of  the  decoction,  and  boiled  for  use,  a  spoon- 
ful of  which  was  sufficient  to  coagulate  a  large  quantity  of 
milk.  Stearns,  in  the  Am.  Herbal,  136,  refers  to  its  use  in 
jaundice,  nephritic  disorders,  and  in  hemorrhage.  "The 
juice  snuffed  up  the  nose  stops  bleeding,  and  a  leaf  put  on 
the  tongue,  and  pressed  against  the  roof  of  the  mouth,  will 
answer  the  same  purpose."  Thornton's  Fam.  Herbal.  Lin- 
naeus, in  his  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  511,  alludes  to  its  employment 
in  hemorrhage ;  it  was  considered  lithontriptic  and  emmena- 
gogue,  and  adapted  to  those  in  whom  the  hemorrhagic 
diathesis  prevailed;  all  of  which  opinions  I  quote,  as 
coming  from  old  authors.  "Steel  dipped  in  the  juice  be- 
comes more  flexible."  The  seeds  produce  an  oil,  which, 
taken  in  moderate  quantities,  excites  the  system,  especially 
"les  plaisirs  de  rumour."  Twenty  or  thirty  grains  of  these 
induce  vomiting,  and  a  few  of  them,  taken  daily,  are  said 
to  reduce  excessive  corpulency.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de 
M.  Med.  vi,  613.  By  Salladin's  analysis,  in  Journal  de  Chim. 
Med.  vi,  492,  the  plant  contains  nitrate  of  lime,  hydrochlo- 
rate  of  soda,  phosph.  potash,  acetate  of  lime,  ligneous  mat- 
ter, with  silicate  and  oxalate  of  iron.  Pallas,  Voyage,  i, 
700;  G-melin,  Flora  Siberica,  ii;  Mathiole,  Comra.  560.  It 
is  said  that  animals  which  feed  on  the  plant  become  both 
fatter  and  stronger.  Mem.  de  Hserlem,  xxvi.  The  stalks 
have  a  fibre  like  hemp,  and  have  been  emploj'ed  for  making 
cordage;  the  root  boiled  in  alum  will  dye  a  yellow  colour. 
I  have  obtained  a  fine  yellow  colour  bjT  boiling  the  agri- 
mony (Agrimoniu  eupatoriu)  in  water  with  alum.  See  Hooke's 
Microscop.  Diss,  xxii,  12,  and  Guettard,  Mem.  de  l'Acack 
des  Sci.  de  Paris,  1751,  350,  for  a  description  of  the  struct- 
ure of  the  sting,  and  the  Petersburg  Journal,  1778,  370,  for 
a  notice  of  the  value  of  the  stalks  in  making  ropes  and 
paper.  The  IT.  S.  Disp.,  1303,  barely  notices  the  plant.  Late 
experiments  may  have  escaped  the  attention  of  its  indefati- 
gable authors. 


272 

The  nettle  plants  are  known  to  be  closely  allied  to  those 
bearing  textile  fibres,  and  indeed  thread  can  be  made  from  all 
the  nettles.  The  Bcelwieria  nivea,  formerly  known  as  Urtica 
nivea,  is  the  famous  China  grass  which  has  been  introduced 
into  this  country  by  the  Patent  Office  on  account  of  its  value 
for  manufacturing  purposes.  The  China  grass  cloth  is  made 
from  it.  Dr.  Royle  says  that  it  has  sold  in  England  at  from 
£80  to  £120  a  ton.  See  Patent  Office  Rep.  244,  1855,  and 
Dr.  J.  F.  Royle  and  Dr.  Roxburgh's  treatises  on  the  orient- 
al fibres.  Experiments  may  be  made  in  the  Confederate 
States  upon  the  yield  of  fibre  from  the  Urtica  wrens  and 
dioica,  which  grow  spontaneously.  Boiling  in  alkaline  so- 
lutions and  lime-water  is  used  in  preparation  of  such 
plants.     See  article  cited ;  also  Apocynum. 

The  common  nettle,  remarks  Mr.  Lawson,  who  ranks  it 
with  flax,  hemp,  cotton,  phormium,  and  other  fibre-yielding 
economical  plants,  has  been  long  known  as  affording  a  large 
proportion  of  fibre,  which  has  not  only  been  made  into  ropes 
and  cordage,  but  also  into  sewing-thread  and  beautiful  white 
linen-like  cloth  of  superior  quality.  The  fibre,  he  adds,  is 
easily  separated  from  other  parts  of  the  stalk,  without  their 
undergoing  the  processes  of  watering  and  bleaching, 
although  by  such  the  labor  necessary  for  that  purpose  is 
considerably  lessened.  Like  those  of  many  other  common 
plants,  the  superior  merits  of  this  generally  accounted 
troublesome  weed  have  hitherto  been  much  overlooked — 
quoted  by  Wilson  in  Rural  Cyc.  It  is  stated  that  the 
roots  possess  astringent  and  diuretic  properties,  and  have 
been  found  serviceable  in  poultices  for  tumors,  and  decoc- 
tions for  other  complaints.  The  leaves,  chopped  up  with 
meal  or  with  boiled  potatoes,  are  used  for  feeding  ducklings, 
young  turkeys,  and  full  grown  poultry,  especially  in  winter, 
and  are  said  to  promote  the  laying  of  eggs.  Settles  are 
sometimes  boiled  and  eaten  in  the  manner  of  greens.  La- 
borers use  the  young  tops  of  nettles  as  a  pleasant,  nourishing, 
and  mildly  aperient  potherb,  either  in  soups  or  in  accompa- 
niment with  salt  beef  or  pork.     Rural  Cyc. 


273 

TJrtica  pumila,  L.  Grows  in  wet  soils,  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton ;  Richland,  Prof.  Gibbes.     Fl.  Sept. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  572.  This  is  quite  smooth;  is  said  to 
be  an  excellent  application  to  inflamed  parts,  and  to  relieve 
the  eruption  caused  by  the  Rims.  Griffith  invites  further 
investigation. 

Camions  saliva.  Hemp.  Ex.  Nat.  Cultivated  in  the 
upper  districts. 

The  value  of  this  plant  for  manufacturing  purposes,  for 
making  ropes  and  cordage,  is  well  known.  It  may  become 
a  most  important  question  whether  or  not  we  can  raise  it  in 
the  Atlantic  states  with  as  much  profit  as  in  Kentucky,  or 
to  repay  the  labor  bestowed  upon  it.  I  have  not  been  able 
to  ascertain  whether  the  juice  of  the  plant,  as  cultivated 
here^  possesses  the  intoxicating  properties  of  the  East  India 
species  (0.  Indica),  though  it  has  been  asserted  that  "water 
in  which  it  is  soaked  becomes  violently  poisonous."  See  a 
paper  in  Patent  Office  Reports,  1848,  p.  574,  from  Louisville 
Journal,  containing  a  full  description  of  varieties,  mode  of 
production,  and  preparation  of  hemp.  Count  Chaptal  says, 
in  his  Chemistry  applied  to  Agriculture,  that  M.  Proust  had 
determined,  after  numerous  experiments,  that  the  stalk  of 
hemp  furnished  the  best  charcoal  for  the  manufacture  of 
gunpowder — better  than  the  willow.  From  the  seeds  is  ex- 
tracted an  oil,  generally  employed  by  painters.  The  fine 
oil  obtained  from  the  seeds  is  peculiarly  adapted  for  burn- 
ing in  chambers,  as  it  is  perfectly  limpid,  and  possesses  no 
smell.  The  Russians  and  Poles,  even  of  the  higher  class, 
bruise  or  roast  the  seeds,  mix  them  with  salt,  and  eat  them 
on  bread.  It  expels  vermin  from  plantations  of  cabbages 
if  planted  on  the  borders  of  fields ;  if  planted  with  that 
vegetable,  no  caterpillar  will  infest  it.  "Willich's  Dom.  Enc. 
The  seeds  may  be  sown  in  April  or  May,  from  two  to  three 
bushels  per  acre,  either  broadcast,  and  hoeing  out  the  plants 
to  a  distance  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  inches,  or  by  the  drill, 
at  a  distance  of  thirty  inches.  In  the  autumn  the  plants 
are  pulled,  the  male  plants  first,  and  the  female  plants  six 
18 


274 

or  seven  weeks  afterward,  when  they  have  ripened  their 
seed.  Thus  there  are  two  harvests  of  the  hemp  crop.  The 
male  plants  are  readily  known  by  their  faded  flowers,  and 
yellowish  color.  They  are  then  tied  in  small  bundles  and 
carried  to  the  pool,  where  they  are  to  be  steeped.  Hemp, 
like  flax,  poisons  the  water  in  which  it  is  steeped.  The 
same  process  is  followed  when  the  female  plants  are  pulled; 
only  these,  before  they  are  steeped,  have  their  seeds  beaten 
out. 

The  process  of  steeping  commonly  lasts  four  or  five  days, 
and  is  continued  until  the  outside  coat  of  the  hemp  readily 
separates.  It  is  then  carefully  and  evenly  spread  on  some 
grass  turf,  where  it  remains  for  three  or  four  weeks,  being 
turned  over  about  twice  every  week,  by  which  the  decom- 
position of  the  woody  part  of  the  stem  is  materially  acceler- 
ated. It  is  next  carried  to  the  barn,  where  it  is  bruised  by 
the  break,  a  machine  constructed  for  the  purpose;  it  is  then 
bound  up  into  bundles,  and  carried  to  market.  (Low's 
JPrac.  Agr.  p.  348.)  There  is  a  paper  on  a  species  of  African 
hemp  by  Mr.  A.  Hunter  (Trans.  High.  Soc.  vol.  iii,  p.  87); 
others  on  the  cultivation  of  hemp  in  America,  by  Mr.W. 
Tonge  (Ann.  of  Agr.  vol.  xxiii,  p.  1);  in  Italy  (ibid.  vol.  xvi, 
p.  439,  and  vol.  ii,  p.  216),  and  in  Catalonia.  (Ibid.  vol.  viii, 
p>.  243.)  'It  seems  that  100  parts  of  Indian  hemp-seed  yield 
20  to  25  per  cent,  of  oil.  (Com.  Agr.  Asiat.  Soc.  1838,  p.  69.) 
See  Flax. 

Among  our  native  substitutes  for  hemp  are  the  Apocynum 
■cannabinum,  the  Canada  Golden  Rod;  Solidago  canadensis, 
L.  (S.  procera,  of  Ell.);  the  Sunflower  (Helianthus)  affords 
single  filaments,  which  are  said  to  be  as  thick  and  as  strong 
as  small  packthread;  also  our  jEsclepias  Syriaca,  Uriica 
dioica  and  Yucca  jilamentosa  or  bear-grass.  See  these  plants. 
Elliott  says  that  bear-grass  possesses  the  strongest  fibre  of 
any  vegetable  whatsoever.  Its  roots  are  extensive,  and 
bear  transplanting.  See  Prep,  of  Hemp,  Farmer's  Encyc. 
See,  also,  files  of  the  Kentucky  Farmer.  Paper  is  made  of 
waste  hemp,  whitened.  The  seeds  afford  an  oil,  which, 
boiled  in  milk,  is  recommended  against  coughs,  and  is  also 


275 

said  to  be  useful  in.  incontinence  of  urine.  In  India  an 
intoxicating  liquor  is  made  from  the  leaves,  resembling 
opium  in  its  effects. 

Humulus  lupulus,  L.  Hop.  Grows  in  the  mountains  of 
South  Carolina,  and  generally  cultivated  in  Confederate 
States. 

Dr.  McBride;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  185;  Chap. 
Therap.  and  Mat.  Med.  i,  348,  and  ii,  455 ;  Eb.  M.  Med.  ii, 
55 ;  TX.  S.  Disp.  374 ;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  163 ;  Freake, 
Med.  Phys.  Journal,  xiii,  432;  Thompson's  Lond.  Disp. 
200;  Bigsby,  Lond.  Med.  Repos.  v,  97;  Bryorly's  Inaug. 
Diss.  Phil.  An.  1803 ;  Ives  in  Silliman's  Journal,  ii,  302 ; 
Thornton's  Fam.  Herbal,  820.  This  plant  is  certainly  pos- 
sessed of  some  narcotic  power.  According  to  Dr.  Latham, 
an  infusion  of  it  is  a  good  substitute  for  laudanum.  It  is 
employed  in  doses  of  one  and  a  half  drachms  in  allaying 
the  distressing  symptoms  of  phthisis.  It  augments  the  se- 
cretions, removes  pain  and  irritability,  and  induces  sleep. 
Dr.  Maton,  Fell.  Roy.  Soc.  Coll.  Phys.,  says  that  large 
doses  produce  headache.  It  is  thought  to  be  a  specific  in 
removing  asthmatic  pains,  without  increasing  the  secre- 
tions. Mer.  and  cle  L.  Diet,  cle  M.  Med.  iii,  544;  Pliny,  lib. 
xxi,  c.  15 ;  Flore  Med.  iv,  196.  It  is  given  with  good  effect 
as  a  stomachic,  in  inappetency  and  weakness  of  the  diges- 
tive organs.  Mat.  Med.  Indica.  120;  Bull.  des.  Sci.  Med. 
xvi,  145 ;  Journal  des  Sci.  Med.  xli,  376 ;  Edinb.  Journal, 
iv,  23;  Diss.  Medici  de  Humuli  medici  viribus  medicis, 
Edinb.  1803;  Bromelius,  "Lupulogia,"  Stockholm,  1687; 
Obs.  of  Freake  on  the  Hop,  Lond.  Lupulin]  obtained  from 
*it,  is  said  to  diminish  the  force  of  the  pulse.  See  Journal 
de  Chim.  Med.  ii,  527;  Journal  de  Pharm.  viii,  228  and 
330.  In  the  Supplem.  to  M.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med. 
1846,  a  case  is  reported  of  a  girl  being  poisoned  by  the 
hop.  Rev.  Scientifique,  Mars,  1845;  Journal  de  Pharm. 
Mars,  1842.  Much  use  is  made  of  the  hop  poultice  in  al- 
laying pain,  applied  over  the  part.  Its  domestic  value  in 
preparing  the  liquor  known  as  yeast  is  obvious,  as  well  as 


276 

for  other  purposes  where  fermentation  is  to  be  established 
in  the  manufacture  of  many  alcoholic  drinks  and  malt 
liquors.  The  medicinal  properties  of  the  hop  are  said  to 
depend  upon  the  lupulin,  a  peculiar  resinous  secretion  con- 
tained in  the  glands,  which  is  obtained  by  thrashing  and 
sifting  the  strobiles.  By  analysis  it  consists  of  volatile  oil, 
bitter  principle,  or  lupulin,  resin,  etc. ;  when  administered 
internally,  this  has  all  the  good  effects  of  the  hop;  given  in 
pill,  in  doses  of  six  to  ten  grains,  or  in  tincture  in  those  of 
a  half  to  one  drachm;  and  it  may  also  be  added  to  poulti- 
ces, ointments,  etc.  Ives'  Experiments;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot. 
574.  The  tincture  of  lupulin  is  said  to  be  preferable  ;  dose, 
one  to  two  fluid  drachms. 

Patent  Office  Rep.  280,  1857,  contains  a  very  full  treatise 
on  the  hop,  condensed  from  various  sources — an  analysis  of 
the  plant,  the  best  mode  of  cultivation,  gathering,  etc.  As 
the  raising  of  the  hop  is  of  great  importance,  I  would  refer 
cultivators  to  this  article.  It  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  very 
most  exhausting  among  cultivated  plants,  both  in  respect 
to  the  organic  and  mineral  constituents  which  it  extracts 
from  the  soil;  so  that  valleys  containing  the  debris  of  the 
surrounding  country  should  be  selected.  See,  also,  Wil- 
son's Rural  Cyc,  art.  "Hop,"  "Beer,"  "Ale."  His  account 
of  cultivation,  diseases,  etc.,  of  the  hop  is  full  and  instruc- 
tive. The  stem  of  the  hop  contains  a  fibre  like  hemp, 
which  is  used  in  making  a  strong  white  cloth  in  Sweden, 
though  it  requires  long  steeping  to  separate  the  fibre.  The 
hop  plant  is  rich  in  tannin,  and  has  been  used  for  tanning: 
the  ash  yields  25.  of  potash,  15.  of  lime,  magnesia,  salt,  etc. 
The  suckers  of  the  hop  are  said  to  form  an  agreeable  vege- 
table for  the  table  when  dressed  like  asparagus.  Honey 
dew  is  frequent  on  hop  plants  from  the  perforations  of  the 
aphis.     It  is  said  to  be  very  abundant  on  cotton  plants. 

An  article  also  on  the  cultivation  of  the  hop  can  be  found 
in  Patent  Office  Reports,  1854,  p.  354. 

I  quote  from  the  paper  mentioned  above  as  follows,  as  I 
consider  information  on  this  topic  important: 

The  hop  is  a  perennial   plant   of  easy  cultivation,   and 


277 

will  grow  in  any  part  of  the  Western  states.  Its  domestic 
uses  are  so  obvious,  that  no  farm  or  garden  should  be  with- 
out one  or  more  roots.  It  requires  a  rich,  deep,  mellow 
soil,  with  a  dry,  pervious,  or  rocky  subsoil.  The  exposure 
in  a  northern  climate  should  be  toward  the  south,  as  on  the 
slope  of  a  hill,  or  in  an}'  well  sheltered  valley.  It  may  be 
propagated  by  seeds,  or  by  divisions  of  the  roots ;  but  it  is 
more  usual  to  plant  the  young  shoots  which  rise  from  the 
bottom  of  the  stems  of  old  plants.  These  are  laid  down  in 
the  earth  till  they  strike,  when  they  are  cut  off  and  planted 
in  a  nursery  bed.  Care  must  be  takeu  to  have  only  one 
sort  of  hops  in  the  same  plat  or  field,  in  order  that  they 
may  all  ripen  at  the  same  time.  The  ground  having  been 
prepared  for  planting,  it  is  divided  by  parallel  lines  six  feet 
apart,  and  short  sticks  are  inserted  into  the  ground  along 
the  lines  at  seven  feet  distance  from  each  other,  and  so  as 
to  alternate  the  rows,  as  is  frequently  done  with  fruit  trees 
and  other  plants,  in  what  is  called  the  "Quincunx  form." 
By  this  method  every  plant  will  be  just  seven  feet  from 
each  of  its  neighbors,  although  the  rows  will  be  only  six 
feet  apart,  and  consequently  about  one-eighth  of  land  will 
be  actually  saved,  as  indicated  in  the  diagram  below: 


At  each  stick  a  hole  may  be  dug  two  feet  square  and  two 
feet  deep,  and  lightly  filled  with  the  earth  dug  out,  mixed 
with  a  compost  prepared  with  well  rotted  dung,  lime,  and 
muck.  Fresh  dung  should  never  be  applied  to  hops. 
Three  plants  are  next  placed  in  the  middle  of  this  hole  six 
inches  asunder,  forming  an  equilateral  triangle.  A  water- 
ing with  liquid  manure  will  greatly  assist  their  taking  root, 
and  they  will  soon  begin  to  show  "vines."  Sticks  three 
or  four  feet  long  are  then  stuck  in  the  middle  of  the  three 
plants,  and  the  vines  are  tied  to  them  with  twine  or  bass, 
till  they  lay  hold  and  twine  around  them.  During  their 
growth  the  ground  should  be  well  hoed  and  forked  up 
around   the   roots,   and   some  of  the   fine  mould  thrown 


278 

around  the  stems.  In  favorable  seasons  a  few  hops  may 
be  picked  from  these  young  plants  in  autumn,  but  in  gen- 
eral there  is  nothing  the  first  year.  Late  in  autumn  the 
ground  may  be  carefully  dug  with  a  spade,  and  the  earth 
turned  toward  the  plants,  to  remain  during  the  winter. 
Early  in  spring  the  second  year  the  hillocks  around  the 
plants  should  be  opened,  and  the  roots  examined.  The  last 
year's  shoots  are  then  cut  off  within  an  inch  of  the  main 
stem,  and  all  the  suckers  quite  close  to  it.  The  latter 
forms  an  agreeable  vegetable  for  the  table  when  dressed 
like  asparagus.  The  earth  is  next  pressed  round  the  roots, 
and  the  parts  covered  so  as  to  exclude  the  air.  A  pole 
about  twelve  feet  long  is  then  firmly  stuck  into  the  ground 
near  the  plants;  to  this  the  vines  are  led,  and  tied  as  they 
shoot,  until  they  have  taken  hold  of  it.  If  by  accident  a 
vine  leaves  the  pole  it  should  be  carefully  brought  back  to 
it,  and  tied  until  it  takes  new  hold. 

Mr.  J.  J.  Bennett,  of  New  York,  says:  "The  manner  in 
which  I  cultivate  hops  is  as  follows:  After  ploughing  the 
ground  intended  for  hops,  I  use  about  ten  loads  of  leached 
ashes  per  acre  for  a  top-dressing,  after  which  it  should  be 
well  harrowed.  The  rows  should  be  eight  feet  apart,  and 
the  hills  seven  feet  apart.  In  setting,  a  line  is  used  with 
marks  indicating  the  distance  between  the  hills.  After  the 
line  is  drawn,  small  sticks  are  set  to  each  mark.  Roots  are 
to  be  cut,  two  joints  on  each  piece,  three  pieces  to  the  hill ; 
cover  about  two  inches.  The  ground  ma}7  be  planted  with 
corn  the  first  year,  as  the  hops  will  not  run  until  the 
second.  It  should  be  sown  the  first  of  May  in  drills  three 
and  one-half  feet  apart ;  sow  with  seed-drill.  The  first 
year  corn  may  be  raised;  plant  one  foot  from  the  teasel 
row.  I  weed  them  twice  the  first  year ;  the  second  year 
they  are  to  be  cultivated  and  hoed  twice.  The  first  of 
August  I  cut  such  as  are  ripe,  which  will  be  known  by  the 
shedding  of  the  blossoms.  I  cut  at  four  different  times, 
the  stems  to  be  about  four  inches  long.  They  are  to  be 
spread  on  shelves  about  eight  inches  deep,  one  tier  above 
another.     There  should  be  a  good  circulation  of  air,  that 


279 

they  may  cure  well.  I  paid  for  cultivating  five  acres  forty- 
two  dollars;  paid  for  harvesting  eighty-five  dollars."  See 
a  full  description  of  hops,  mode  of  cultivation,  prepara- 
tions, adulterations,  etc.,  in  Johnson's  Chemistry  of  Com- 
mon Life,'  vol.  ii,  p.  36  ;  also  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts  and 
Manufactures,  articles  "Hop,"  "Ale,""  Beer,"  etc.  Con- 
sult Pereira's  Mat.  Medica,  Chaptal's  Chemistry  applied  to 
Agriculture,  Boussingault's  Treatise  on  Agriculture  in  its 
relations  with  Chemistry,  and  Thaer's  Agriculture,  for 
mode  of  planting,  preparation,  etc.  See,  also,  Phillips' 
History  of  Cultivated  Vegetables.  The  uses  of  the  hop 
pillow  and  the  tincture  of  hops,  as  sedatives  and  mild  nar- 
cotics, are  well  known  ;  but  for  the  medicinal  application 
consult  the  various  works  on  the  materia  medica. 

The  great  importance  of  cultivating  this  plant  on  a  large 
scale  for  manufacture  of  yeast  should  be  impressed  upon 
the  people.  See  receipt  books  for  mode  of  making  spruce 
and  hop  beer  with  hops,  and  the  essence  of  spruce.  Mode 
of  making  hop  beer  is  as  follows:  For  a  half-barrel  of 
beer,  take  half  a  pound  of  hops,  and  half  a  gallon  of  mo- 
lasses. The  latter  must  be  poured  by  itself  into  the  casks. 
Boil  the  hops,  adding  to  them  a  teacupful  of  powdered 
ginger  in  about  a  pailful  and  a  half  of  water;  that  is, 
a  quantity  sufficient  to  extract  the  virtue  of  the  hops. 
When  sufficiently  brewed,  put  it  up  warm  into  the  cask, 
shaking  it  well  in  order  to  mix  it  with  the  molasses.  Then 
fill  it  up  with  wrater  quite  up  to  the  bung,  which  must  be 
left  open,  to  allow  it  to  work.  You  must  be  careful  to  keep 
it  constantly  filled  up  with  water  whenever  it  works  over. 
"When  sufficiently  worked  it  may  be  bottled,  adding  a 
spoonful  of  molasses  to  each  bottle.  Thornton'b  Southern 
Gardener. 

Ale  and  beer  can  be  made  in  the  Confederate  States, 
though  not  with  the  same  advantage  as  in  colder  climates. 
Though  without  practical  experience,  I  am  forced  to  the 
conviction  that  the  desideratum  is  cool  cellars.  In  the  rural 
districts  what  are  called  dry  cellars  are  constructed  in  the 
clay,  just  above  the  water-bearing  stratum,  the  top  enclosed 


280 

or  covered  with  a  closed  house.  The  temperature  of  these 
cellars  is  quite  low,  and  they  are  used  in  keeping  milk, 
butter,  melons,  cider,  etc.  I  think  their  temperature 
would  allow  the  manufacture  and  preservation  of  either 
wine,  ale.  or  beer.  Ale  has  been  made  near  Charleston,  at 
Mount  Pleasant;  but  to  prevent  fermentation,  cellars  are 
required.  The  reader  interested  in  the  subject  can  find  a 
description  of  the  English  method  of  making  malt  liquors 
in  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts  and  Manufactures,  in  Wilson's 
Rural  Cyclopaedia  (art.  "Ale"),  in  Solly's  Rural  Chemistry, 
p.  178,  see  art.  "Fermentation  and  Distillation";  also, 
Thornton's  Family  Herbal,  "Mentha,"  p.  565.,  Child  on 
Brewing,  Combrune's  Theory  and  Practice  of  Brewing. 
In  England  they  use  Gentiana,  lutea,  purpurea,  and  rubra  as 
substitutes  for  hops.  Consult  this  volume,  art.  "Persim-r 
mou  ""  (Diospyros),  ■  "Sassafras"  (Laurus),  "Blackberry" 
and  "Cherry"  (Cerasus),  "Apple"  (Pyrus),  for  liquors. 

Moras  alba,  L.  Mulberry.  Nat.  Diffused;  vicinity  of 
Charleston.     Fl.  March. 

Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  319 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  463 ;  Dem.  Elem.  de 
Bot.  The  root  is  bitter,  and  very  astringent,  and  is  useful 
in  relaxed  states  of  the  bowels,  diarrhoea,  etc.  Lind.  ISTat. 
Syst.  Bot.  186.  It  contains  myroxylic  acid  with  lime.  Tur- 
ner, 640.  See  analysis  in  the  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  x, 
676.  The  bark  is  a  purgative  vermifuge,  but  is  more  im- 
portant on  account  of  "the  leaves  being  the  favorite  food  of 
the  silk- worm."  That  this  plant  is  easily  cultivated  in  the 
Confederate  States  may  some  day  make  it  a  source  of  great 
profit  in  the  production  of  silk.  The  mania  may  again  be 
revived,  under  auspices  which  may  deprive  the  term  of  the 
slight  suspicion  of  reproach  which  is  attached  to  its  objects. 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.,  Supplem.  1846,  496  ;  Grif- 
fith, Med.  Bot.  579. 

As  "this  is  the  species  upon  which  the  silk-worm  feeds," 
the  following  brief  directions  concerning  the  manufacture 
of  silk,  from  the  Rural  Cyc,  may  be  useful;  and  as  the  pro- 
duction of  the  raw  silk  is  in  the  power  of  almost  any  one, 


281 

if  the  females  of  numerous  families  throughout  the  Con- 
federacy would  devote  their  leisure  to  it,  the  aggregate 
amount  of  silk  produced  would  contribute  still  further  to 
render  us  independent  as  a  people. 

After  the  worm  has  enveloped  itself  in  the  cocoon, 
seven  or  eight  days  are  allowed  to  elapse  before  the  balls 
are  gathered.  The  next  process  is  to  destroy  the  life  of 
the  chrysalides,  which  is  clone  either  by  exposure  to  the 
sun,  or  by  the  heat  of  an  oven,  or  of  steam.  The  cocoons 
are  next  separated  from  the  floss,  or  loose,  downy  substance 
which  envelops  the  compact  balls,  and  are  then  ready  to 
be  reeled.  For  this  purpose  they  are  thrown  into  a  boiler 
of  hot  water  for  the  purpose  of  dissolving  the  gum,  and 
being  gently  pressed  with  a  brush,  to  which  the  threads 
adhere,  the  reeler  is  thus  enabled  to  disengage  them.  The 
ends  of  four  or  more  of  the  threads  thus  cleared  are  passed 
through  holes  in  an  iron  bar,  after  which  two  of  these  com- 
pound threads  are  twisted  together,  and  made  fast  to  the 
reel.  The  length  of  reeled  silk  obtained  from  a  single 
cocoon  varies  from  three  hundred  to  six  hundred  yards; 
and  it  has  been  estimated  that  twelve  pounds  of  cocoons, 
the  produce  of  the  labors  of  two  thousand  eight  hundred 
worms,  which  have  consumed  one  hundred  and  fifty-two 
pounds  of  mulberry  leaves,  give  one  pound  of  reeled  silk, 
which  may  be  converted  into  sixteen  yards  of  gros  de 
Naples.  Those  cocoons  which  have  been  perforated  can- 
not be  reeled,  but  must  be  spun  on  account  of  the  breaks  in 
the  thread.  The  produce  of  these  balls  when  worked  is 
called  fleuret.  The  raw  silk,  before  it  can  be  used  in 
weaving,  must  be  twisted  or  thrown,  and  may  be  converted 
into  singles,  tram,  or  organzine.  The  first  is  produced 
merely  by  twisting  the  raw  silk  to  give  more  firmness  to 
its  texture.  Tram  is  formed  by  twisting  together,  but  not 
very  closely,  two  or  more  threads  of  raw  silk,  and  usually 
constitutes  the  weft  or  shoot  of  manufactured  goods.  Or- 
ganzine is  principally  used  in  the  warp,  and  is  formed  by 
twisting  first  each  individual  thread,  and  then  two  or  more 
of  the  threads  thus  twisted,  with  the  throwing-mill.     The 


282 

silk  when  thrown  is  called  hard  silk,  and  must  be  boiled  in 
order  to  discharge  the  gum,  which  otherwise  renders  it 
harsh  to  the  touch,  and  unfit  to  receive  the  dye.  After 
boiling  about  four  hours  in  soaped  water,  it  is  washed  ^n 
clear  water  to  discharge  the  soap,  and  is  seen  to  have  ac- 
quired that  glossiness  and  softness  of  texture  which  forms 
its  principal  characteristic.  The  yarn  is  now  ready  for 
weaving.  Rural  Cyc.  I  saw  in  Italy  the  manufacture  of 
silk  going  on  in  most  of  the  large  towns,  and  many  in  the 
country  prepare  raw  silk  for  the  manufacturer  and  weaver. 

The  successful  rearing  of  silk-worms,  remarks  Wilson,  is 
a  distinct  art,  and  requires  peculiar  attention.  They  are 
subject  to  a  variety  of  maladies.  In  many  places  it  is 
usual  to  import  the  eggs  from  some  district  that  has  ac- 
quired reputation  for  their  production.  These  are  packed 
like  grain,  and  are  chosen  in  the  same  manner.  The  eggs 
are*  in  many  places  hatched  by  the  heat  of  the  human 
body.  The  silk  is  contained  in  the  form  of  a  fluid  resem- 
bling varnish,  in  long,  cylindrical  sacks  many  times  the 
length  of  the  animal,  and  capable  of  being  unfolded  by 
immersion  in  water.  This  fluid  is  easily  forced  out,  and 
advantage  is  sometimes  taken  of  this  circumstance  to  pro- 
cure threads  much  coarser  than  usual,  which  are  extremely 
strong,  and  impervious  to  water.  Rural  Cyc.  At  the 
agricultural  meetings  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  arti- 
cles of  home-made  silk  are  occasionally  presented. 

From  an  essay  on  the  culture  and  manufacture  of  silk.  By 
H.  P.  Byram,  Brandenburg,  Meade  county,  Ky. — Expe- 
rience of  past  ages  has  fully  proved  that  the  climate  of  the 
United  States  is  as  well  adapted  to  the  nature  and  habits  of 
the  silk-worm,  and  the  production  of  silk,  as  that  of  any 
other  country.  Several  varieties  of  the  mulberry  are  in- 
digenous in  our  soil,  and  those  generally -used  in  the  na- 
tive country  of  the  silk-worm  succeed  equally  well  in  our 
own  soil  and  climate.  Hence,  from  the  nature  and  habits 
of  American  people,  we  must  soon  become  the  greatest 
silk-growing  nation  on  the  earth.  The  first  step  toward 
the  production  of  silk  is  to  secure  a  supply  of  suitable 
food  for  the  silk-worm. 


283 

Having  tried  all  the  varieties  introduced  into  onr  coun- 
try, I  find  the  Moras  multicaulis  and  the  Canton  varieties, 
all  things  considered,  most  suitable  for  that  purpose. 

Propagation  of  the  mulberry. — Although  the  experience  of 
some  years  past  has  rendered  this  subject  familiar  to  many, 
yet  those  now  most  likely  to  engage  in  the  legitimate  busi- 
ness of  silk-growing  may  be  less  acquainted  with  the 
propagation  of  the  tree.  I  shall  give  some  brief  directions 
ou  the  subject : 

Almost  any  soil  that  is  high  and  dry,  and  that  will 
mature  Indian  corn,  is  suitable  for  the  mulberry.  That, 
however,  which  is  inclined  to  be  light  or  sandy  is  the  best. 

The  Moras  multicaulis  may  be  propagated  by  cuttings  or 
layers  (or  a  good  variety  may  be  raised  from  the  seed). 
Cuttings  may  be  of  one  or  more  buds,  planted  perpendicu- 
larly in  a  light,  mellow  bed  of  good  soil.  They  should  be 
planted  when  the  spring  has  fully  opened,  or  about  the 
usual  time  of  planting  corn.  They  may  be  planted  in  the 
rows,  about  twelve  inches  apart,  and  the  rows  at  a  sufficient 
distance  to  admit  of  thorough  cultivation  with  a  plough 
or  cultivator.  The  ground  should  be  kept  mellow  until 
past  midsummer. 

Select  a  suitable  piece  of  ground  for  a  permanent  or- 
chard. It  would  be  well  if  broken  up  in  the  fall,  and 
again  ploughed  in  the  spring,  and,  if  followed  with  the 
subsoil  plough,  it  would  be  advantageous.  After  a  thor- 
ough harrowing  it  should  be  laid  off  in  rows,  each  way 
eight  feet  by  four,  with  the  plough.  The  trees  at  one  year 
old  from  the  nursery  should  be  taken  up,  the  tops  cut  off 
near  the  roots,  and  one  planted  in  each  of  the  squares  or 
hills. 

Having  tried  various  methods  of  planting,  and  different 
distances,  I  prefer  those  here  given.  This  will  admit  the 
free  use  of  the  plough  and  cultivator  both  ways. 

In  latitudes  north  of  38°  or  40°,  where  land  is  dear,  they 
may  be  planted  much  nearer.  If  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
cuttings  from  old  trees  cannot  at  once  be  procured,  the 
trees  from  the  nursery  should  be  taken  up  in  the  fall,  and 


284 

buried  in  a  cellar,  or  upon  the  north  side  of  a  bank  or  hill, 
in  alternate  layers  of  trees  and  earth,  and  the  whole  pro- 
tected by  a  shed  from  the  rains  of  winter,  as  the  plants 
seldom  sufficiently  mature  the  first  season  from  the  cut- 
tings to  withstand  the  winters  of  a  northern  climate, 
particularly  that  portion  above  the  ground.  South  of  38° 
of  latitude  these  precautions  may  not  be  necessary. 

The  Canton  mulberry  is  a  more  hard}^  kind,  resembling 
in  some  degree  the  varieties  known  as  the  common  Italian, 
producing  a  large,  full,  thick  leaf.  This  variety  is  propa- 
gated from  seed  and  from  layers,  but  does  not  readily 
strike  root  from  cuttings. 

In  1838  I  procured  a  quantity  of  this  seed  from  Canton, 
which  produced  a  variety  of  j:>lants.  Those  producing  the 
greatest  quantity  of  fruit  yield  an  inferior  leaf. 

They  are  now  propagating  this  variety  very  extensively 
at  the  silk-growing  establishment  at  Economy,  Pennsyl- 
vania, which,  in  connection  with  the  Morus  midticaulis, 
constitute  the  principal  food  used  at  this  establishment. 

The  fruit  should  be  gathered  when  fully  ripe,  and  the 
seed  washed  out  and  dried.  If  south  of  the  39th  parallel 
of  latitude,  they  may  be  planted  the  same  season.  North 
of  this,  they  should  be  planted  in  the  following  spring,  in 
a  bed  of  rich  earth  prepared  as  for  beets  or  onions,  and 
planted  in  drills  about  eighteen  inches  apart.  The  young 
plants  should  be  thinned  to  the  distance  of  from  one  to 
three  inches  from  each  other.  They  should  be  well  cul- 
tivated, when  thev  will  attain  the  height  of  three  or  four 
feet  the  first  season.  In  the  fall,  in  a  northern  climate,  the 
young  trees  should  be  taken  up  and  protected  during  the 
winter,  as  directed  for  the  Morus  midtieaulis.  [This  is  not 
necessary  in  the  Southern  states.] — So.  Cult. 

In  the  following  spring  the  brandies  may  be  taken  off 
near  the  main  stem,  the  top  shortened,  and  the  whole  tree 
planted,  completely  covering  the  roots  and  main  stem  from 
one  to  two  inches  deep.  In  this  way  two  or  more  trees 
may  be  produced  from  each  plant.  If  a  full  supply  can  be 
procured,  the  roots  of  the  young  plants  may  at  once  be 


285 

removed  to  the  orchard.  They  may  be  allowed  to  stand 
much  nearer  than  the  multicaulis,  leaving  only  sufficient 
room  for  cultivation. 

When  seed  is  required  it  would  be  well  to  plant  out  a 
portion  from  the  seed-bed  at  once,  as  standards  for  this 
purpose,  always  selecting  those  bearing  full,  heart-shaped 
leaves. 

The  leaves  of  the  white  Italian  produce  a  good,  heavy 
cocoon,  and  should  always  be  used  in  the  last  age  of  the 
worms  when  other  larger-leaved  varieties  cannot  be  ob- 
tained. 

Cultivation. — The  mulberry  orchard  should  be  annually 
cultivated.  The  ground  kept  mellow  and  free  from  weeds 
until  the  middle  of  July. 

The  fields  should  be  divided  into  three  equal  parts,  and 
after  the  second  season  from  planting,  one-third  each  year 
should  be  cut  down  near  the  ground.  This  will  cause  a 
more  vigorous  growth,  and  an  abundant  crop  of  foliage. 

Feeding  apartments. — Various  plans  have  been  proposed 
and  adopted  for  cocooneries,  or  feeding-sheds,  for  the  silk- 
worms, none  of  which,  I  think,  are  without  objection, 
except  a  perfect  laboratory,  so  constructed  as  to  be  able  to 
fully  control  the  atmosphere  and  temperature  within. 
This,  however,  would  be  too  expensive,  and  require  too 
much  skill  and  judgment  for  general  adoption. 

Open  or  shed-feeding  has  been  employed  with  success  of 
late  years,  and  for  general  use  may  be  the  most  successful 
for  family  establishments.  This,  however,  confines  the 
whole  business,  particularly  in  the  Northern  states,  to  one 
or  two  crops  in  the  season.  South  of  Ohio  more  can  be 
successfully  fed. 

These  sheds  may  be  cheaply  made  by  setting  some  dura- 
ble posts  in  the  ground,  saj-  from  six  to  eight  feet  high, 
with  a  roof  of  shingles  or  boards.  The  roof  should  project 
two  feet  over  the  sides.  There  should  be  some  temporary 
protection  to  the  ends  and  sides  of  the  shed;  perhaps  the 
best  and  cheapest  can  be  made  of  strong  cotton  cloth 
(Osnaburg);  three  or  four  widths  should  be  sewed  together, 


286 

with  small  rods  across  the  bottom,  which  will  answer  as 
weights,  and  also  as  rollers,  which,  by  the  aid  of  a  pulley, 
may  be  rolled  or  let  down  at  pleasure. 

The  width  of  the  sheds  must  be  governed  by  the  size  of 
the  hurdles  or  feeding-trays  used.  The  width  that  I  have 
adopted  is  from  eighteen  to  twenty  feet.  The  length  ac- 
cording to  the  extent  of  the  feeding  contemplated. 

Where  it  is  designed  to  carry  on  an  extensive  business, 
a  building  should  be  constructed  expressly  for  the  purpose. 
It  should  be  on  an  elevated  situation,  convenient  to  the 
mulberry  orchard.  There  should  be  a  cellar  under  the 
building.  Any  material  commonly  used  for  building  may 
be  emplo}red.  If  of  wood,  weather-boarded  and  plastered. 
It  would  be  well  to  fill  up  the  space  between  the  two  with 
tan -bark  or  unburnt  brick,  or  something  of  the  kind, 
which  will  render  the  temperature  more  uniform.  The 
width  of  the  building  should  be  twenty  or  twenty-eight 
feet — the  former  admitting  of  two,  and  the  latter  of  three 
double  ranges  of  hurdles  or  trays  of  suitable  size ;  the 
length  suited  to  the  extent  of  the  business  designed.  It 
should  be  two  stories  high,  and  so  constructed  as  to  be 
thoroughly  ventilated.  There  should  be  two  double  doors 
in  each  end,  with  doors,  windows,  and  ventilators  in  the 
sides.  The  windows  should  extend  to  near  the  tops  of  the 
rooms.  There  should  be  sliding  ventilators  near  the  floor. 
The  windows  may  be  filled  with  oiled  paper  or  cloth,  which 
will  admit  the  light  and  exclude  the  sun.  It  would  also  be 
important  to  have  under  each  tier  of  hurdles,  through  the 
floor,  two  planks  of  ten  inches  width  each,  hung  with 
hinges,  that  they  may  be  raised  at  pleasure  by  a  pulley. 
Also  an  upright  ventilator  on  the  roof,  fitted  with  blinds, 
through  which  a  constant  draft  may  be  kept  up. 

In  one  end  of  the  building,  in  each  of  the  two  doors, 
there  should  be  a  ventilating  wheel  made  of  thin  boards 
(plank),  much  after  the  form  of  the  wheels  applied  to  the 
sterns  of  our  steam-propellers.  These  wheels  should  be 
about  two  feet  in  diameter.  They  should  be  put  in  mo- 
tion  for   a   few   minutes   every   hour,  or   oftener  in   still 


287 

weather.  Both  may  be  made  to  turn  by  one  crank,  con- 
necting each  by  bands  and  whirls  to  the  main  shaft. 

An  air-furnace,  such  as  is  now  employed  in  heating 
churches  and  other  buildings,  should  be  constructed  in  the 
cellar,  and  so  arranged  as  to  draw  from  the  feeding-rooms 
all  the  air  necessary  to  supply  the  furnace.  The  air,  when 
heated  in  the  chamber,  should  be  conveyed  through  the 
wholeiength  of  the  rooms,  in  a  square  pipe  with  openings 
at  short  distances  from  each  other,  which  should  increase 
in  size  as  they  recede  from  the  furnace.  These  openings 
may  be  so  connected  as  to  be  all  closed  at  once,  or  a  valve 
applied  at  the  air-chamber  may  be  used  to  cut  off  the 
communication  of  heated  air  when  the  temperature  is  suf- 
ficiently high  in  the  rooms,  suffering  the  hot  air  to  escape 
outside  of  the  building.  In  the  last  ages  of  the  worms 
the  furnace  will  be  found  of  great  benefit,  even  when  the 
heat  is  not  required  in  the  rooms,  for  the  purpose  of  draw- 
ing off  and  consuming  the  impure  air  of  the  cocoonery. 

At  Economy,  they  not  only  make  use  of  air-furnaces, 
but  in  an  adjoining  building  they  have  a  large  air-pump 
constantly  in  operation,  connected  with  the  cocoonery  by 
a  pipe  with  small  openings  through  the  length  of  the 
building.  This  pump  is  kept  in  motion  by  a  steam-en- 
gine. 

With  good  eggs,  when  proper  means  have  been  employ- 
ed for  their  preservation,  and  the  feeding-apartments  thor- 
oughly ventilated,  I  do  not  know  of  a  single  instance 
where  the  worms  have  proved  unhealthy. 

From  the  conviction  that  proper  regard  had  not  gener- 
ally been  paid  to  the  ventilation  of  cocooneries,  in  the 
summer  of  1842  I  commenced  a  series  of  experiments,  by 
which  I  ascertained  that  the  silk-worm  during;  its  last  a^e 
consumed  nearly  its  own  weight  of  leaves  daily ;  and  that 
the  amount  of  exhalations  or  imperceptible  perspiration 
given  off  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  food  consumed, 
was  about  equal  to  that  ascertained  to  escape  from  a 
healthy  man. 

I  found,  from  the  most  carefully  conducted  experiments, 


288 

that  the  weight  of  one  hundred  thousand  silk-worms,  about 
five  days  before  their  time  of  winding,  was  four  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  pounds,  and  that  they  would  consume  daily 
three  hundred  and  seventy-two  pounds  of  leaves,*  and 
that  their  increased  weight  in  twenty-four  hours  from  the 
food  consumed  was  forty-six  pounds,  and  that  the  enor- 
mous amount  of  two  hundred  and  six  pounds  was  given 
off  in  the  same  time,  in  the  form  of  exhalations  or  imper- 
ceptible perspiration  alone.  This,  then,  I  think,  fully 
explains  the  cause  of  disease  complained  of  by  many,  and 
establishes  the  importance  of  ventilation  in  every  possible 
form. 

In  one  corner  of  the  building  there  should  be  a  hatching- 
room,  with  which  the  furnace  below  should  be  connected, 
so  as  to  receive  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  heat,  as  may  be 
required,  without  reference  to  the  temperature  of  the  feed- 
ing-rooms. 

Fixtures. — In  fitting  up  the  hurdles  or  feeding-shelves 
for  a  building  of  twenty  feet  wide,  it  will  require  a  double 
range  of  posts,  two  and  a  half  or  three  inches  square,  on 
each  side  of  the  centre  of  the  room,  running  lengthwise, 
and  the  length  of  the  shelves  apart  in  the  ranges,  and 
each  two  corresponding  posts,  crosswise  of  the  ranges, 
about  the  width  of  the  two  shelves  apart.  On  each  double 
range  across  the  posts  are  nailed  strips,  one  inch  or  more 
in  width  and  about  fifteen  inches  apart,  on  which  the  trays 
or  hurdles  rest,  which  may  be  drawn  out  or  slid  in  as  may 
be  found  necessary  in  feeding.  The  aisles  or  passages  of  a 
building  of  the  above  width  will  be  four  feet  each,  allow- 
ing two  feet  for  the  width  of  each  single  hurdle. 

The  hurdles  that  I  have  used  for  many  years  are  of  twine 
net-work.  A  frame  is  first  made  five  feet  long  and  two 
feet  wide,  of  boards  seven-eighths  of  an  inch  thick,  and 
one  and  a  half  inches  wide.  There  should  be  two  braces 
across  the  frame  at  equal  distances  of  five^eighths  by  seven- 

*  Had  these  worms  been  fed  in  the  ordinary  manner  they  would  have  consumed 
many  more  leaves  in  the  same  time.  But  to  preserve  the  greatest  possible  accu- 
racy, through  the  whole  experiment  they  were  fed  rather  sparingly. 


289 

eighths  of  an  inch  square.  On  a  line,  about  half  an  inch 
from  the  inner  edge  of  the  frame,  are  driven  tacks  nearly 
down  to  their  heads,  at  such  distances  as  will  make  the 
meshes  of  the  net  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  square. 
Good  hemp  or  flax  twine  is  passed  around  these  tacks, 
forming  a  net  by  passing  the  filling  double  over  and  under 
the  warp,  or  that  part  of  the  twine  that  runs  lengthwise. 
This  twine  should  be  somewhat  smaller  than  that  running 
lengthwise.  On  a  damp  day  the  twine  becomes  tight ;  I 
then  give  the  netting  two  good  coats  of  shellac  varnish. 
This  cements  the  whole  together,  and  renders  it  firm  and 
durable. 

The  varnish  is  made  by  dissolving  a  quantit}7  of  gum 
shellac  in  alcohol  in  a  tin  covered  vessel,  and  placed  near 
the  fire.  It  should  be  reduced,  when  used,  to  the  consist- 
ence of  paint. 

Another  set  of  frames  is  made  in  the  same  way  and  of 
the  same  size,  and  covered  with  strong  cotton  or  tow  cloth ; 
this  is  secured  with  small  tacks.  Upon  these  the  net 
frames  rest,  which  serve  to  catch  the  litter  that  falls 
through  from  the  worms. 

Hurdles  made  and  supported  in  this  manner  admit  of  a 
more  free  circulation  of  air,  and  the  litter  is  less  liable  to 
mould  or  ferment,  and  can  be  removed  and  cleaned  at 
pleasure. 

With  this  kind  of  hurdle  and  screen  I  make  use  of 
winding-frames,  constructed  in  the  following  manner:  a 
light  frame  is  made  of  boards  one  and  a  half  inches  wide, 
and  the  length  of  the  hurdles,  and  two  feet  ..and  four 
inches  wide;  this  is  rilled  crosswise  with  thin  laths  about 
one  inch  apart  in  the  clear.  The  manner  of  using  these 
will  be  hereafter  explained.  They  answer  the  twofold 
purpose  of  winding-frames  and  mounting-ladders. 

The  care  and  expense  required  in  fitting  up  a  house  on 
this  plan  may  prevent  its  general  adoption. 

The  most  common  method  that  has  been  heretofore 
employed  is  permanent  shelves;  but  the  labor  required 
19 


290 

to  keep  the  worms  properly  cleaned  renders  this  plan 
objectionable. 

At  Economy,  Penn.,  the  rearing  of  the  silk- worm  is  now 
carried  on  to  a  great  extent,  and  more  successfully  than  in 
any  other  part  of  the  United  States,  or  perhaps  the  world. 
Their  houses  are  two  stories  high.  The  worms  are  fed  on 
small  trays  about  eighteen  or  twenty  inches  wide,  and 
about  three  feet  long.  They  are  supported  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  hurdles  above  described,  and  are  about  six 
inches  apart.  When  the  worms  are  about  ready  to  wind, 
they  are  transferred  to  the  upper  story,  to  permanent 
shelves  about  sixteen  inches  apart,  where  they  form  their 
cocoons  in  bunches  of  straw  placed  upright  between  the 
shelves.  The  worms  are  cleaned  at  least  once  after  every 
moulting,  and  after  the  last,  every  day.  For  this  purpose 
they  have  nets  woven  or  knit  of  cotton  twine,  something 
larger  than  the  size  of  the  trays,  with  meshes  of  various 
sizes  suited  to  the  age  of  the  worms.  For  the  last  age 
they  are  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  square.  They 
are  used  without  frames.  When  it  is  required  to  remove 
the  worms  from  their  litter,  the  nets  are  laid  lightly  over 
them,  and  then  plentifully  fed.  When  the  worms  have 
arisen  upon  the  fresh  leaves,  they  are  removed  by  two  per- 
sons taking  hold  of  the  four  corners  of  the  net  and  trans- 
ferring them  to  clean  trays,  held  and  carried  off  by  a  third 
person.  One  hundred  thousand  are  changed  in  this  man- 
ner in  two  hours. 

Description  of  the  silk-worm. — It  will  be  necessary  for  the 
inexperienced  culturist  to  have  some  knowledge  of  the 
forms,  changes,  and  appearances  of  the  silk-worm  before  he 
enters  upon  the  duties  of  his  interesting  charge. 

The  silk-worm  is  a  species  of  caterpillar,  whose  life  is 
one  continual  succession  of  changes,  which  in  due  time 
becomes  a  moth  or  winged  insect,  like  others  of  the  genus. 

The  time  occupied  in  going  through  its  different  forms 
of  existence  varies  in  different  countries  —  governed  by 
climate,  temperature,  and  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the 


291 

food  upon  which  it  is  fed,  and  the  nature  of  the  particular 
variety  of  the  insect. 

The  worm  changes  or  casts  its  skin  (of  the  common 
varieties)  four  times  before  it  attains  its  full  growth* 
These  changes  are  called  moultings,  and  the  periods  in- 
tervening between  the  several  moultings  are  termed  ages. 
When  it  is  first  hatched  it  is  of  a  blackish  color,  which 
afterward  becomes  lighter,  varying  almost  daily  to  differ- 
ent shades,  and  in  different  varieties  through  every  age, 
to  the  close  of  the  last,  or  near  the  time  of  spinning,  when 
it  assumes  a  grayish  yellow,  semi-transparent  appearance. 

Having  tried  all  the  varieties  that  have  been  introduced 
into  the  United  States,  those  I  consider  the  best  are  known 
as  the  Chinese  Imperial,  producing  a  large,  salmon-colored, 
pea-nut-shaped  cocoon ;  and  a  kind  called  the  Pea-nut,  pro- 
ducing a  mixture  of  white  and  salmon-colored  cocoons. 
This  variety  produces  a  larger  and  more  firm  cocoon  than 
any  of  that  name  that  I  have  seen. 

Time  of  hatching. — Bearing. — When  the  leaves  of  the  mul- 
berry have  put  forth  to  the  size  of  about  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter, it  may  be  generally  inferred  that  the  proper  time  for 
hatching  the  worm  has  arrived. 

The  papers  or  cloths  containing  the  eggs  should  then  be 
brought  out  and  placed  in  the  hatching-room,  upon  a  table 
or  trays  made  for  the  purpose.  When  artificial  means  are 
employed,  the  temperature  should  be  gradually  raised  until 
the  time  of  hatching,  which  will  be  in  about  ten  days,  to 
75°  or  80°  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer.  But  few  worms 
will  make  their  appearance  on  the  first  day,  but  on  the 
second  and  third  the  most  will  come  out;  should  there  be 
a  few  remaining  on  the  fourth  day,  they  may  be  thrown 
away,  as  they  do  not  always  produce  strong  and  healthy 
worms.  When  the  worms  begin  to  make  their  appearance, 
young  mulberry  leaves  cut  into  narrow  strips  should  be 
laid  over  them,  to  which  they  will  readily  attach  them- 
selves ;  these  should  be  carefully  removed,  and  placed  com- 
pactly upon  a  cloth  screen  or  tray  prepared  for  them,  and 
other  leaves  placed  upon  the  eggs  for  the  worms  that  still 


292 

remain,  which,  should  be  passed  off  as  before.  A  singular 
fact  will  be  observed,  that  all  the  worms  will  hatch  be- 
tween sunrise  and  before  noon  of  each  day.  Care  should 
be  taken  to  keep  the  worms  of  each  day's  hatching  by 
themselves,  as  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  have  the 
moultings  and  changes  of  all  the  worms  as  simultaneous  as 
possible.  It  is  also  important  that  the  worms  that  have 
been  transferred  to  the  trays  should  not  be  fed  until  the 
hatching  for  the  day  is  completed,  so  that  all  may  be  fed 
equally.  Young  and  tender  leaves  should  be  selected  to 
feed  the  worms  with ;  these  should  be  cut  with  a  sharp 
knife  into  pieces  not  exceeding  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
square,  and  evenly  sifted  over  them.  They  should  be  fed 
in  this  w&y  six  or  eight  times  in  twenty-four  hours,  as 
nearly  as  possible  at  regular  and  stated  periods. 

It  will  be  impossible  to  lay  down  any  definite  rules  for 
the  quantity  of  leaves  necessary  for  a  given  number  of 
worms-  for  each  succeeding  day  through  every  age.  After 
a  little  acquaintance  with  their  nature  and  habits,  the  intel- 
ligence and  judgment  of  the  attendant  will  be  the  best 
guide ;  they  should,  however,  have  as  much  as  they  will 
eat,  but  after  a  few  days  care  should  be  taken  not  to  give 
them  more  than  they  will  generally  consume,  as  this  will 
increase  the  accumulation  of  litter,  which  will  endanger 
the  health  of  the  worms.  In  the  last  age  they  eat  vora- 
ciously, when  they  should  be  well  supplied.  A  quantity  of 
leaves  should  always  be  on  hand  in  case  of  wet  weather. 

When  the  average  range  of  the  thermometer  is  between 
70°  and  80°  the  several  moultings  will  take  place  near  the 
fifth,  ninth,  fifteenth,  and  twenty-second  days  after  hatch- 
ing. It  may  be  known  when  the  worms  are  about  to  cast 
their  skins,  as  they  cease  to  eat,  and  remain  stationary, 
with  their  heads  raised,  and  occasionally  shaking  them. 
This  operation  will  be  more  distinctly  observed  as  they 
increase  in  size  through  their  succeeding  ages. 

Assuming  the  above  temperature  as  the  standard,  the 
quantity  of  leaves  for  the  first  three  days  of  this  (the 
first)  age  must  be  gradually  increased  at  each  feeding,  after 


293 

which  they  will  require  less  at  each  succeeding  meal  until 
the  time  of  moulting  arrives,  when  for  about  twenty-four 
hours  they  eat  nothing.  But  as  it  is  seldom  the  case  that 
all  cast  their  skins  at  one  and  the  same  time,  some  will  still 
be  disposed  to  eat,  when  a  few  leaves  must  be  cut  fine  and 
sparingly  scattered  over  them,  so  that  those  that  remain 
torpid  may  be  disturbed  as  little  as  possible.  They  must 
now  be  carefully  fed  in  this  way  until  it  is  discovered  that 
some  have  moulted,  when  the  feeding  must  cease  altogether 
until  the  most  of  them  have  recovered.  This  rule  must  be 
particularly  regarded  through  all  the  succeeding  moultings, 
otherwise  some  of  the  worms  will  be  far  in  advance  of 
others ;  and  this  want  of  uniformity  will  increase  through- 
out each  succeeding  age,  and  to  the  period  of  winding, 
which  will  not  only  result  in  great  inconvenience  in  gather- 
ing the  cocoons,  but  will  materially  injure  the  worms,  and 
consequently  lessen  the  crop  of  silk. 

When  the  greatest  portion  of  the  worms  have  moulted, 
and  appear  active,  leaves  a  little  wilted  are  laid  over  them, 
by  which  they  are  passed  to  clean  trays.  If  any  still 
remain  that  have  moulted,  they  must  be  transferred  in  the 
same  manner,  by  laying  more  leaves  upon  them.  The  rem- 
nant  of  worms  that  have  not  changed  their  skins  should 
be  left  upon  the  litter,  and  added  to  those  of  the  next  day's 
moulting.  By  closely  regarding  these  rules  throughout 
the  several  ages,  the  worms  will  generally  all  commence 
the  formation  of  their  cocoons  about  the  same  period. 

After  having  gone  through  and  furnished  all  the  worms 
with  a  quantity  of  leaves,  jt  is  well  to  go  over  a  second 
time,  and  add  more  where  they  seem  to  require  it. 

Very  young  and  tender  leaves  must  be  given  to  the 
worms  in  the  first  age,  after  which  older  ones  can  be  given 
as  they  advance  in  age  until  after  the  last  moulting,  when 
the}r  should  be  fed  upon  sound,  full-grown  leaves. 

After  the  second  moulting  the  leaves,  where  large  crops 
are  fed,  may  be  cut  by  running  them  twice  through  a  com- 
mon rotary  hay  or  straw-cutter,  of  Hovey's,  or  one  of  a 
similar  make. 


294 

The  worms  will  frequently  heap  together,  and  become 
too  thick,  as  they  increase  in  size.  When  they  are  fed  the 
leaves  must  be  spread,  and  the  space  enlarged,  or  they  may 
be  removed  by  leaves  or  twigs  of  the  mulberry  to  places 
unoccupied.  If  they  are  permitted  to  be  crowded,  disease 
is  apt  to  follow,  and  the  whole  crop  is  endangered. 

It  will  sometimes  be  observed,  when  the  light  falls  more 
directly  on  one  side  of  the  hurdle  than  the  other,  that  the 
worms  will  incline  to  leave  that  side  and  become  crowded 
on  the  opposite,  when  the  hurdle  should  be  turned  around. 

Up  to  the  last  moulting  it  is  best  to  feed  the  worms 
entirely  upon  the  leaves  of  the  multicaulis,  after  which  the 
Canton  or  white  Italian  should  be  used  if  a  full  supply  can 
be  obtained  —  the  former  being  consumed  with  greater 
avidity,  and  the  accumulation  of  litter  is  consequently  less. 
The  Canton  and  Italian  produce  the  heaviest  cocoon,  while 
the  multicaulis  yields  a  finer  and  stronger  fibre.  In  pursu- 
ing this  course  the  advantages  of  both  are  in  some  degree 
secured. 

The  worms  should  be  removed  from  their  litter  immedi- 
ately after  each  moulting,  and  in  their  fourth  age  the  hur- 
dles should  be  cleaned  a  second  time,  and  after  the  last 
moulting  they  should  be  removed  at  least  every  second 
day. 

Where  nets  are  not  used  in  the  last  ages,  the  worms  are 
changed  by  laying  over  them  the  small  branches  of  the 
mulberry. 

Recently  branch-feeding,  as  it  is  termed,  has  been  intro- 
duced with  some  success,  and  with  great  economy  of  time ; 
in  the  last  ages  of  the  worms  care  should  be  taken  to  lay 
the  branches  as  evenly  as  possible,  especially  where  it  is 
designed  to  use  the  twine  hurdles,  otherwise  it  will  be  diffi- 
cult for  the  worms  to  ascend  through  the  netting. 

When  the  worms  are  about  to  spin  they  present  some- 
thing of  a  yellowish  appearance ;  they  refuse  to  eat,  and 
wander  about  in  pursuit  of  a  hiding-place,  and  throw  out 
fibres  of  silk  upon  the  leaves.  The  hurdles  should  now  be 
thoroughly  cleaned  for  the  last  time,  and  something  pre-- 


295 

pared  for  them  to  form  their  cocoons  in.  Various  plans 
have  been  proposed  for  this  purpose.  The  lath  frames, 
before  described,  I  prefer.  They  are  used  by  resting  the 
back  edge  of  the  frame  upon  the  hurdle,  where  the  two 
meet  in  the  double  range,  and  raising  the  front  edge  up  to 
the  underside  of  the  hurdle  above,  which  is  held  to  its 
place  by  two  small  wire  hooks  attached  to  the  edge  of  the 
hurdle. 

A  covering  of  paper  or  cloth  should  be  applied  to  the 
lath  frames.  In.  using  the  hurdles  and  screens  I  remove 
the  screen  from  under  the  hurdle,  turning  the  underside 
up,  and  letting  it  down  directly  upon  the  winding-frame. 
This  affords  double  the  room  for  the  worms  to  wind  in. 
Lath  frames  of  this  description  have  advantages  that  no 
other  fixtures  for  winding  possess  that  I  have  ever  seen 
tried.  The  frame  resting  upon  the  backside  of  each  hur- 
dle renders  this  side  more  dark,  which  places  the  worms 
instinctively  seek  when  they  meet  with  the  ends  of  the 
laths,  and  immediately  ascend  to  convenient  places  for 
the  formation  of  their  cocoons.  From  these  frames  the 
cocoons  are  gathered  with  great  facility,  and  free  from  litter 
and  dirt,  and  when  they  are  required  they  are  put  up  with 
great  expedition. 

Where  branch-feeding  has  been  adopted  by  some,  no  other 
accommodation  has  been  provided  for  the  winding  of  the 
worms  than  that  afforded  them  by  the  branches  from  which 
they  have  fed.  This  is  decidedly  objectionable,  as  the  worms 
are  always  disposed  to  rise  until  their  course  is  obstructed 
above.  When  this  is  not  the  case  they  wander  about  for 
hours  upon  the  tops  of  the  branches,  and  only  descend 
after  their  strength  becomes  exhausted,  and  the  result  is 
the  production  of  a  crop  of  loose,  inferior  cocoons.  Next 
to  lath  frames,  small  bunches  of  straw  afford  the  best 
accommodation  for  this  purpose.  Rye  straw  is  preferred. - 
Take  a  small  bunch,  about  the  size  of  the  little  finger,  and 
with  some  strong  twine  tie  it  firmly  about  half  an  inch 
from  the  butt  of  the  straw ;  cut  the  bunch  off  about  half 
an    inch    longer  than   the  distance  between   the  hurdles, 


296 

They  are  thus  placed  upright  with  their  but-ends  down- 
ward, with  their  tops  spreading  out,  interlacing  each  other, 
and  pressing  against  the  hurdles  above.  They  should  be 
thickly  set  in  double  rows  about  sixteen  inches  apart  across 
the  hurdles.  These  may  be  preserved  for  a  number  of 
years. 

After  the  most  of  the  worms  have  arisen,  the  few  re- 
maining may  be  removed  to  hurdles  by  themselves.  In 
three  or  four  days  the  cocoons  may  be  gathered.  While 
gathering,  those  designed  for  eggs  should  be  selected. 
Those  of  firm  and  fine  texture,  with  round,  hard  ends,  are 
the  best.  The  smaller  cocoons  most  generally  produce  the 
male,  and  those  larger  and  more  full  at  the  ends  the  female 
insect.  Each  healthy  female  moth  will  lay  from  four  to  six 
hundred  eggs.  But  it  is  not  always  safe  to  calculate  on 
one-half  of  the  cocoons  to  produce  female  moths.  There- 
fore, it  is  well  to  save  an  extra  number  to  insure  a  supply 
of  eggs. 

The  cocoons  intended  for  eggs  should  be  stripped  of 
their  floss  or  loose  tow,  which  consists  of  irregular  fibres, 
by  which  the  worm  attaches  its  work  to  whatever  place  it 
is  about  to  form  its  cocoon.  These  should  be  placed  on 
hurdles,  in  a  thin  layer,  and  in  about  two  weeks  the  moths 
will  come  out ;  always  in  the  forepart  of  the  day,  and 
generally  before  the  sun  is  two  hours  high.  If  laid  upon  a 
net  hurdle  (which  is  best)  they  will  immediately  fall 
through  the  meshes  and  remain  suspended  on  the  under 
side,  where  they  are  not  liable  to  become  entangled  in  the 
cocoons.  As  soon  as  the  male  finds  the  female  they 
become  united.  They  should  be  taken  carefully  by  the 
wings,  in  pairs,  and  placed  upon  sheets  of  paper,  to  remain 
until  near  night,  when  the  female  will  be  anxious  to  lay 
her  eggs.  Then  take  each  gently  by  the  wings,  and  sepa- 
rate them,  placing  the  females  at  regular  distances  —  about 
two  inches  from  each  other — upon  sheets  of  paper  or  fine 
cotton  or  linen  cloth ;  these  should  hang  over  a  line,  or  be 
tacked  to  the  side  of  the  house.  In  two  or  three  nights 
the  moths  will  complete  their  laying,  when  they  should  be 


297 

removed  from  the  papers  or  cloths.  Frequently  the  males 
appear  first  in  the  greatest  numbers,  some  of  which  should 
be  reserved  each  day  in  case  there  should  afterward  be  an 
excess  of  females.  They  should  be  shut  out  from  the  light, 
otherwise  they  are  liable  to  injure  themselves  by  a  constant 
fluttering  of  their  wings.  The  female  is  largest,  and  sel- 
dom moves  or  flutters. 

Killing  the  chrysalides.  —  After  the  cocoons  have  been 
gathered,  those  that  are  intended  for  sale  or  for  future 
reeling  should  be  submitted  to  some  process  by  which  the 
moths  will  be  killed,  otherwise  they  will  perforate  and 
spoil  the  cocoons.  This  is  done  by  various  methods.  The 
most  simple  and  convenient  is  to  spread  them  thinly  on 
boards,  and  expose  them  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  In 
a  hot  day  many  of  them  will  be  killed  in  a  few  hours ;  but 
they  must  be  stirred  occasionally,  or  some  will  be  liable  to 
escape  the  heat,  and  afterward  come  out.  At  Economy, 
they  place  them  in  an  air-tight  box  containing  about  ten 
bushels  (the  box  should  always  be  full,  or  if  not,  a  partition 
is  fitted  down  to  the  cocoon),  sprinkling  evenly  through 
the  whole,  beginning  at  the  bottom,  about  three  ounces  of 
camphor  slightly  moistened  with  alcohol,  and  finely  pulver- 
ized. The  box  is  then  closed,  and  the  seams  of  the  top 
covered  by  pasting  strips  of  paper  over  them.  They 
remain  in  this  way  about  three  or  four  days.  They  are 
then  spread  out  thinly  in  an  upper  loft  to  cure,  where  they 
should  be  occasionally  stirred.  It  will  require  some  weeks 
to  thoroughly  cure  them.  Before  camphoring,  the  dead 
and  bad  cocoons  must  be  taken  out,  otherwise  they  will 
spoil  the  good  ones. 

When  it  is  convenient,  it  is  best  to  reel  as  many  of  the 
cocoons  as  possible  immediately  after  they  are  gathered,  as 
they  reel  much  more  freely  before  they  are  exposed  to  the 
sun  or  dried. 

Succession  of  crops.  —  Preservation  of  eggs. — Repeated  at- 
tempts have  been  made  to  feed  a  succession  of  crops  of 
worms  throughout  the  entire  season  from  the  same  stock 
of  eggs.     In  most  instances  success  has  failed  to  attend 


298 

these  efforts.  When  proper  means  are  employed,  and  due 
care  observed,  the  eggs  may  be  preserved,  and  worms  suc- 
cessfully raised  until  the  feed  is  destroyed  by  the  frost.  In 
many  years  experience  I  have  never  failed  in  this  respect. 

In  the  spring  of  1840  I  communicated  to  Miss  Rapp,  of 
Economy,  my  method  of  preserving  eggs,  which  she  imme- 
diately adopted,  and  has  pursued  it  until  the  present  time 
with  perfect  success,  feeding  from  eighteen  to  twenty-five 
crops  each  year.  The  following  is  an  extract  of  a  letter 
from  the  postmaster  at  Economy,  dated  January  19,  1843 : 

"Between  May  and  September  we  raised  near  two  mill- 
ions of  worms,  in  eighteen  sets,  of  near  equal  numbers, 
about  a  week  apart,  producing  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
one  bushels  of  cocoons.  The  last  crop  hatched  the  9th  of 
September,  and  spun  the  10th  of  October.  We  found  no 
difference  in  the  health  of  the  different  sets.  We  are  of 
the  opinion  that  the  late  keeping  of  the  eggs  does  not 
bring  disease  on  the  worms  if  they  are  kept  right,  and 
gradually  brought  forward  as  they  ought  to  be." 

It  may  be  remarked  that  the  qualities  of  the  mulberry 
leaf  are  such  in  the  latter  part  of  the  season  that  as  hea\w 
cocoons  will  not  be  produced,  as  in  the  first.  A  bushel  of 
the  first  crop  raised  at  Economy,  in  the  season  referred  to, 
produced  twenty-three  and  a  quarter  ounces  of  reeled  silk, 
and  the  last  crop,  wound  in  October,  but  nineteen  ounces. 
About  one  month  of  the  best  part  of  that  season  of  feed- 
ing was  lost  by  the  severe  frost  that  occurred  on  the  5th  of 
May,  which  entirely  killed  the  young  leaves,  and  must 
have  materially  injured  the  crop  of  the  season. 

My  method  of  preserving  eggs  is  to  place  them  in  the 
ice-house  in  February,  or  early  in  March,  or  sooner  if 
the  weather  is  warm.  For  this  purpose  a  box  or  square 
trunk  is  made,  extending  from  within  one  foot  of  the  bot- 
tom of  the  ice  to  the  top.  This  may  be  made  in  joints,  so 
that  as  the  ice  settles  the  upper  joints  may  be  removed. 
The  eggs  should  be  placed  in  a  tin  box,  and  this  enclosed 
in  a  wood  one,  and  suspended  in  the  trunk  near  the  ice. 
The  communication  of  warm  air  should  be  cut  off  by  fill- 


299 

ing  the  opening  with  a  bundle  of  straw  or  hay.  The  eggs 
should  be  aired  for  a  few  minutes  as  often  as  once  in  one 
or  two  weeks,  always  choosing  a  cool,  dry  morning;  when 
selections  for  succeeding  crops  may  be  made  these  should 
be  placed  in  another  box,  and  gradually  raised  in  the  trunk 
for  several  days,  avoiding  a  too  sudden  transition  from  the. 
ice  to  the  temperature  of  the  hatching-room. 

The  ice-house  at  Economy  is  connected  with  the  cellar, 
the  bottom  of  the  former  being  eighteen  inches  below  that 
of  the  latter.  A  long  wooden  box,  extending  into  the  ice- 
house, level  with  the  bottom  of  the  cellar  floor,  contains  all 
the  smaller  boxes  of  eggs.  The  door  of  the  box  opening 
in  the  cellar  is  kept  well  closed  to  prevent  the  admission 
of  warm  air.  They  employ  another  ice-house,  sunk  deep 
in  the  cellar,  with  shelves  gradually  rising  from  the  ice  up 
to  the  top  of  the  ground,  upon  which  the  eggs  of  succeed- 
ing crops  are  placed,  and  raised  one  shelf  higher  every 
day  until  they  are  taken  into  the  hatching-room.  The  past 
season  they  have  hatched  about  jive  ounces  of  eggs,  or  one 
hundred  thousand  worms  every  four  days. 

Diseases  of  the  silk-worm. — The  silk-worm,  like  every  other 
animal  or  insect,  is  liable  to  disease,  and  premature  death. 
European  writers  have  enumerated  and  described  six  par- 
ticular diseases  to  which  it  is  subject.  But  in  our  more 
congenial  climate  nothing  is  wanting  to  insure  a  healthy 
stock  of  silk-worms,  and  a  profitable  return  from  their 
labors,  but  to  give  them  sufficient  room,  a  regular  and  full 
supply  of  suitable  food,  a  strict  regard  to  cleanliness,  and  a 
proper  ventilation  of  their  apartments. 

In  excessively  hot,  damp,  or  sultry  weather,  in  the  last 
age,  tha  disease  known  as  the  yellows  sometimes  occurs. 
Where  open  feeding  is  adopted,  some  fine  air-slaked  lime 
may  be  sifted  on  the  worms  once  or  twice  a  day  before  feed- 
ing, and  the  diseased  and  dead  worms  picked  out  and 
thrown  away.  In  a  regular  cocoonery,  properly  ventilated 
and  supplied  with  an  air-furnace,  dry  air  should  be  made 
to  circulate  freely.  But  if  the  temperature  is  above  80°  or 
85°  the  ventilating  apparatus  should  be  constantly  employed 


300 

until  a  change  of  weather  occurs,  or  the  disease  disappears. 

A  feeding-house  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  cut  off  all 
communication  of  rats  and  mice  from  the  worms  and  the 
cocoons. 

Reeling. — We  have  now  arrived  at  another  branch  of  the 
silk  business,  which  more  properly  comes  under  the  head 
of  manufacturing.  Every  farmer  who  engages  in  the  silk 
culture,  in  order  to  avail  himself  of  an  additional  profit 
should  provide  his  family  with  a  suitable  reel,  by  the  use 
of  which,  after  a  little  experience,  he  will  be  enable  to  offer 
his  silk  in  market  in  a  form  that  will  greatly  enhance  its 
value,  and  much  reduce  the  trouble  and  expense  of  trans- 
portation. Reels  can  now  be  procured  in  almost  any  of 
the  principal  cities  at  a  small  cost,  or  they  can  be  made  by 
any  ingenious  farmer  or  carpenter.  The  reel  now  uni- 
formly used  is  that  known  as  the  Piedmontese. 

All  attempts  to  improve  this  reel  in  its  general  principles, 
I  believe,  have  failed.  At  Economy,  however,  they  have 
made  an  addition  which  may  be  found  useful.  It  consists 
of  two  pairs  of  whirls,  made  of  wire,  in  the  form  of  an 
aspel  to  a  reel,  about  four  inches  long,  and  two  and  a  half 
inches  across  from  arm  to  arm,  making  the  circumference 
about  six  inches.  These  whirls  are  set  in  an  iron  frame, 
and  run  each  upon  two  points  or  centres.  Each  pair  is 
equidistant,  on  a  direct  line,  about  eight  inches  apart, 
between  the  first  guides  and  those  on  the  traverse  bar, 
instead  of  making  the  usual  number  of  turns  around  each 
thread  as  they  pass  between  the  guides  on  the  reel.  With 
this  arrangement  each  thread  is  taken  from  the  basin  and 
passed  through  the  first  guides,  then  carried  over  and 
around  the  two  whirls,  and  where  they  pass  each  other  on 
the  top  the  turns  are  made  necessary  to  give  firmness  to 
the  thread,  then  passing  directly  through  the  guides  in  the 
traverse  bar  to  the  arms  of  the  reel,  making  each  thread  in 
reeling  independent  of  the  other.  This  enables  the  reeler, 
when  a  remnant  of  cocoons  are  to  be  finished  on  leaving 
the  work,  to  unite  both  threads  into  one,  retaining  the 
necessary  size,  whereas  both  would  be  too  fine  if  continued 
on  the  reel  in  the  ordinary  manner. 


301 

Directions  for  reeling.  —  In  family  establishments  a  com- 
mon clay  or  iron  furnace  should  be  procured,  to  which 
should  be  fitted  a  sheet-iron  top  about  twelve  inches  high, 
with  a  door  on  one  side,  and  a  small  pipe  on  the  opposite 
side  to  convey  off  the  smoke.  This  top  should  retain  the 
same  bevel  or  flare  as  the  furnace,  so  as  to  be  about  twenty 
inches  in  diameter  at  the  top.  The  pan  should  be  twenty 
inches  square,  and  six  inches  deep,  divided  into  four  apart- 
ments, two  of  which  should  be  one  inch  larger  one  way 
than  the  others.  They  should  all  communicate  with  each 
other  at  the  bottom.  In  large  filatures  a  small  steam- 
engine  to  propel  the  reels,  etc.,  and  to  heat  the  water  for 
reeling  would  be  necessary. 

Before  the  operation  of  reeling  is  commenced  the  co- 
coons must  be  stripped  of  their  floss,  and  assorted  into 
three  separate  parcels,  according  to  quality  or  of  different 
degrees  of  firmness.  The  double  cocoons,  or  those  formed 
by  two  or  more  worms  spinning  together,  the  fibres  cross- 
ing each  other,  and  rendering  them  difficult  to  reel, 
should  be  laid  aside  to  be  manufactured  in  a  different 
manner. 

After  the  cocoons  have  been  assorted  as  above  directed, 
the  operation  of  reeling  may  be  commenced.  The  basin 
should  be  nearly  filled  with  the  softest  water,  and  kept  at  a 
proper  heat  by  burning  charcoal,  or  some  other  convenient 
method  of  keeping  up  a  regular  heat.  The  precise  tempera- 
ture cannot  be  ascertained  until  the  reeling  is  commenced, 
owing  to  the  different  qualities  of  the  cocoons.  Those  of 
the  best  quality  will  require  a  greater  degree  of 'heat  than 
those  of  a  more  loose  and  open  texture ;  hence  the  import- 
ance of  assisting  them.  Cocoons  also  require  less  heat, 
and  reel  much  better  when  done  before  the  chrysalides  are 
killed  and  the  cocoons  become  dried. 

The  heat  of  the  water  may  be  raised  to  near  the  boiling 
point  (it  should  never  be  allowed  to  boil),  when  two  or  three 
handfuls  of  cocoons  may  be  thrown  into  one  of  the  large 
apartments  of  the  basin,  which  must  be  gently  pressed 
under  water  for  a  few  minutes  with  a  little  brush  made  of 


302 

broom-corn,  with  the  ends  shortened.  The  heat  of  the  water 
will  soon  soften  the  gnm.  of  the  silk,  and  thereby  loosen  the 
ends  of  the  filaments ;  the  reeler  should  then  gently  stir 
the  cocoons  with  the  brush  until  the  loose  fibres  adhere  to 
it ;  they  are  then  separated  from  the  brush,  holding  the 
filaments  in  the  left  hand,  while  the  cocoons  are  carefully 
combed  down  between  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand  as 
they  are  raised  out  of  the  water.  This  is  continued  until 
the  floss  or  false  ends  are  all  drawn  off",  and  the  fine  silk 
begins  to  appear ;  the  fibres  are  then  broken  oflf",  and  laid 
over  the  edge  of  the  basin.  The  floss  is  then  cleared  from 
the  brush,  and  laid  aside  as  refuse  silk,  and  the  operation 
continued  until  most  of  the  ends  are  thus  collected. 

If  the  silk  is  designed  for  sewings,  about  twenty-five 
fibres  should  compose  a  thread ;  if  intended  for  other  fab- 
rics, from  eie;ht  to  fifteen  should  be  reeled  tos-ether.  The 
finest  silks  should  always  be  reeled  from  the  best  cocoons. 
The  cocoons  composing  the  threads  are  taken  up  in  a  small 
tin  skimmer  made  for  the  purpose,  and  passed  from  the 
large  apartment  of  the  basin  to  those  directly  under 
the  guides.  As  the  ends  become  broken  they  are  passed 
back  into  the  spare  apartment,  where  they  are  again  col- 
lected to  be  returned  to  the  reel.  The  requisite  number 
of  fibres  thus  collected  for  two  threads  are  passed  each 
through  the  lower  guides.  They  are  then  wound  around 
each  other  two  or  three  times,  and  each  carried  through 
the  two  guides  in  the  traverse  bar,  and  then  attached  to 
the  arms  of  the  reel.  The  turning  should  now  be  com- 
menced with  a  slow  and  steady  motion  until  the  threads 
run  freely.  While  the  reel  is  turning,  the  person  attending 
the  cocoons  must  continually  be  adding  fresh  ends  as  they 
may  be  required,  not  waiting  until  the  number  she  began 
with  is  reduced,  because  the  internal  fibres  are  much  finer 
than  those  composing  the  external  layers.  In  adding  new 
ends  the  reeler  must  attach  them,  by  gently  pressing  them 
with  a  little  turn  between  the  thumb  and  finger,  to  the 
threads  as  they  are  running.  As  the  silk  is  reeled  off  the 
chrysalides  should  be  taken  out  of  the  basin,  otherwise 


303 

they  obscure  and  thicken  the  water,  and  injure  the  color 
and  lustre  of  the  silk.  When  the  water  becomes  dis- 
colored it  should  always  be  changed. 

If  in  reeling  the  silk  leaves  the  cocoon  in  burrs  or 
bunches,  it  is  evident  the  water  is  too  hot ;  or  when  the 
ends  cannot  be  easily  collected  with  the  brush,  or  when 
found  not  to  run  freely,  the  water  is  too  cold. 

A  pail  of  cold  water  should  always  be  at  hand,  to  be 
added  to  the  basin  as  it  may  be  required.  When  the 
cocoons  yield  their  fibres  freely,  the  reel  may  be  turned 
with  a  quicker  motion.  The  quicker  the  motion  the 
smoother  and  better  will  be  the  silk.  When  from  four  to 
six  ounces  have  been  reeled,  the  aspel  may  be  taken  oft'  that 
the  silk  may  dry.  The  end  should  be  fastened  so  as  to  be 
readily  found.  Squeeze  the  silk  together,  and  loosen  it 
upon  the  bars,  then,  on  the  opposite  side  tie  it  with  a  band 
of  refuse  silk  or  yarn,  then  slide  it  off  the  reel;  double, 
and  again  tie  it  near  each  extremity. 

The  quality  of  the  silk  depends  much  upon  the  art  and 
skilful  management  of  the  reeler.  All  that  is  required  to 
render  one  perfect  in  the  art  of  reeling  is  a. little  -practice, 
accompanied  at  the  beginning  with  a  degree  of  imtience, 
and  the  exercise  of  judgment  in  keeping  up  the  proper  tem- 
perature of  water,  and  the  threads  of  a  uniform  size. 

Manufacture  of  perforated  cocoons. — The  perforated  and 
double  cocoons  can  be  manufactured  into  various  fabrics, 
such  as  stockings,  gloves,  under-shirts,  and  the  like.  Be- 
fore the  cocoons  can  be  spun  they  must  be  put  into  a  clean 
bag  made  of  some  open  cloth,  and  placed  in  a  pot  or  ket- 
tle, and  covered  with  soft  water,  with  soap  (hard  or  soft) 
added  sufficient  to  make  a  strong  suds,  and  boiled  for  about 
three  or  four  hours.  If  they  are  required  to  be  very  nice 
and  white,  the  water  may  be  changed  and  a  small  quantity 
more  of  soap  added,  and  again  boiled  for  a  few  minutes. 
After  they  are  boiled  they  may  be  hung  up  and  drained  ; 
the}^  should  then  be  rinsed  while  in  the  bag,  in  fair  water, 
and  hung  out  to  dry,  without  disturbing  them  in  the  bag. 
When  completely  dry  they  may  be  spun  on  the  common 


,   304 

flax-wheel  by  first  taking  the  cocoon  in  the  fingers  and 
slightly  loosening  the  fibres  that  become  flattened  down 
by  boiling,  and  then  spinning  off  from  the  pierced  end. 
The  silk  will  run  entirely  off,  leaving  the  shell  bare.  The 
double  cocoons  may  be  spun  in  the  same  manner,  but 
should  be  boiled  separately. 

A  species  of  edible  mulberry  is  planted  pretty  generally 
for  feeding  hogs.  I  am  informed  that  it  continues  to  bear 
during  several  months,  from  April  to  July  or  August,  and 
is  considered  highly  advantageous.  This  is  called  the  Ever- 
bearing mulberry.  The  following  account  I  obtain  from  the 
Southern  Field  and  Fireside  : 

Ever-bearing  Mulberries. — There  are  now  three  varieties  of 
ever-bearing  mulberries  presented  to  us  for  selection  or  for 
general  adoption. 

Downing's  Ever-bearing  is  a  seedling  of  the  Multicaulis, 
which  it  resembles  in  wood  and  foliage.  It  is  therefore 
necessarily  somewhat  tender,  and  not  suited  to  a  more 
northern  climate.  Mr.  D.  has  given  us  an  ample  descrip- 
tion of  its  fruit  in  his  Fruit  Trees  of  America,  and  merits 
much  credit  for  originating  so  excellent  a  fruit. 

Herbemont'  s  or  Hicks'  Ever-bearing  is  a  much  hardier  varie- 
ty, and  superior  to  the  preceding  in  size  and  quality  of  its 
fruit,  which  is  produced  during  a  considerably  larger  period 
of  time.  It  is  a  prodigious  bearer;  the  berries  are  usually 
nearly  two  inches  in  length,  sweet  and  delicious.  At  the 
South  the  fruit  continues  to  ripen  from  the  25th  of  April 
until  the  15th  of  August,  and  here  at  the  JSTorth  the  crop 
extends  to  a  late  period  in  the  autumn.  This  tree  has  dark 
red  wood,  and  indented  leaves,  very  distinct  from  Down- 
ing's. 

White  Ever-bearing,  sweet  berries,  partakes  considerably 
of  the  character  of  the  white  Italian.  It  grows  vigorously, 
and  yields  immense  quantities  of  fruit. 

The  first  two  varieties  have  been  in  fruit  with  us  this 
season.  Of  Downing's,  from  a  young  tree,  we  gathered  but 
a  few  berries,  of  which  we  preferred  the  more  vinous  and 
decided  flavor  to  that  of  the  Hicks.     The  latter  does  not 


305 

materially  vary  in  quality  from  the  common  wild  species,  of 
which  it  is  a  variety,  differing  in  its  extended  period  of  bear- 
ing. Our  young  tree,  of  about  twice  the  age  of  Downing's, 
began  to  ripen  the  first  of  May,  and  has  just  stopped  fruit- 
ing for  the  season.  The  fruit  is  worth  growing  on  planta- 
tions for  poultry  and  swine,  as  it  is  very  prolific.  A 
mulberry  orchard  of  this  kind  would  furnish  the  latter  a 
full  supply  of  food  for  about  three  months.  It  is  to  be 
found  at  all  nurseries,  and  we  venture  to  commend  it  to  our 
agricultural  friends  as  a  valuable  farm  crop  for  the.  cheap 
rearing  of  good  hogs. 

The  juice  of  the  mulberry  is  used  to  give  a  dark  tinge  to 
confections.  When  properly  fermented  the  fruit  yields  a 
pleasant  vinous  liquor,  mulberry  wine,  and  is  mixed  with 
apple  juice  to  form  mulberry  cider.  The  bark  of  the  root 
is  a  powerful  cathartic.     Farmer's  Encyc. 

Morus  rubra,  L.  Mulberry.  Grows  along  rivers  and 
swamps  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  Richland,  Prof.  Gibbes  ;„ 
Florida.     Fl.  March. 

U.  S.  Disp.  463.  The  fruit  is  laxative  and  cooling,  and  a 
grateful  drink  and  syrups  are  made  from  it,  adapted  to  fe- 
brile cases.  The  bark  of  the  mulberry  can  be  converted 
into  cordage,  ropes,  and  brown  paper.  The  inner  bark  of 
the  root  of  the  black  mulberry,  in  doses  of  from  half  to  a 
whole  teaspoonful  of  the  powder,  is  said  to  act  as  an.  excel- 
lent purgative.  A  syrup  of  the  ripe  fruit  is  an  excellent 
laxative  for  children.  A  tincture  of  the  inner  bark  of  the 
root  is  considered  a  valuable  laxative  bitter. 

Tartaric  acid  is  obtained  from  the  mulberry,  the  grape, 
currant,  etc.*  It  is  almost  always  found  in  vegetables  com- 
bined with  potassa,  with  which  it  forms  a  nearly  insoluble 
salt;  it  is  the  union  which  occasions  it  to  be  so  easily  pre- 
cipitated from  the  liquors  in  which  it  is  contained,  espe- 
cially when  they  ferment.  The  coats  of  tartar  which  are 
found  deposited  upon  the  sides  of  casks  are  a  combination 
of  tartaric  acid,  potassa,  and  extracted  matter  (Chaptal). 
20 


306 

See  Pereira,  and  treatises  on  chemistry  for  mode  of  forma- 
tion of  Cream  of  tartar. 

Citric  acid,  also,  is  found  in  the  skins  of  the  red  currant, 
of  wild  plums,  cherries,  strawberries,  and  raspberries.  In 
these  it  is  found  united  with  malic  acid.  The  orange  and 
lemon,  of  course,  furnish  it  in  the  largest  proportion. 

The  process  adopted  by  Scheele  for  obtaining  and  crys- 
tallizing citric  acid  is  to  saturate  the  juice  with  lime,  the 
insoluble  salt,  thus  formed,  being  decomposed  by  sulphuric 
acid  diluted  with  water.  The  liquor  is  then  evaporated, 
and  the  acid  obtained  in  a  crystalline  form.  See  Chaptal, 
Ure,  works  on  chemistry  and  mat.  medica,  Pereira,  U.  S. 
Dispensatory,  etc. 

The  production  of  citric  acids  in  the  warmer  portions  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy  is  quite  practicable,  as  the  lemon 
grows  abundantly. 

Citric  acid  supplies  the  place  of  lemon  juice  for  domestic 
purposes,  and  in  the  arts,  by  its  being  freed  from  mucilage, 
.which  renders  the  juice  liable  to  undergo  speedy  change, 
and  from  a  diminution  of  its  bulk  by  concentration  (Chap- 
tal). 

To  give  a  flavor  to  food,  citric  acid  is  preferable  to 
vinegar,  on  account  of  the  aromatic  principle  it  contains. 
Dissolved  in  water,  it  forms  a  very  wholesome  drink ; 
" about  thirty  grains  of  the  acid,  dissolved  in  a  pint  of 
water,  and  sweetened  with  sugar,  composes  an  excellent 
lemonade."  From  its  refreshing  and  antiputrescent  proper- 
ties, it  is  invaluable  during  the  hot  months,  and  especially 
as  an  article  for  sea-stores  of  vessels  in  warm  latitudes 
(Chaptal);  and  particularly  for  the  prevention  of  scurvy. 
"Citric  acid  is  also  particularly  useful  in  the  arts;"  like  ox- 
alic acid,  "it  is  employed  in  forming  reserves  in  printed 
goods,  and  in  removing  spots  of  ink  or  rust."  Chaptal. 
See,  also,  acetic  acid,  vinegar,  etc.  See  Chaptal,  Ure,  and 
treatises  on  chemistry,  and  orange,  "  Citrus"  in  this  vol- 
ume. 

Ell.,  in   his  Sketches  of  the  Botany  of  S.  C,  says  the 
wood  is  preferred,  in  the  building  of  boats,  to  that  of  any 


307 

other  tree,  except  the  red  cedar  (Juniperus  Virginiana).  The 
other  woods  suitable  for  ship-building  found  with  us  are,  the 
live  oak  for  the  timbers  and  knees,  and  the  cypress,  cedar, 
willow,  and  several  species  of  pine  for  the  timbers  as  well 
as  the  spars — being  preferred  on  account  of  their  strength, 
lightness,  or  peculiarity  of  growth. 

Wilson  says  of  this  tree  th'at  the  wood  is  fine  grained, 
compact,  strong,  and  solid,  and  by  many  persons  is  esteemed 
fully  equal  to  the  locust.  It  is  employed  in  naval  architec- 
ture at  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  for  the  upper  and  lower 
parts  of  the  frame,  for  knees  and  floor  timbers,  and  for  tree- 
nails; it  is  hardly  inferior  to  the  locust,  but  is  scarce  in  the 
ship-yards.  For  posts  it  is  considered  nearly  as  lasting  as 
the  locust,  but  it  grows  more  slowly,  and  requires  a  richer 
soil.  From  experiments  made  in  France  it  was  ascertained 
that  the  leaves  were  not  as  good  for  the  silk-worm  as  those 
of  the  M.  alba.  A  much  less  quantity  was  obtained  than 
from  worms  fed  on  the  white  mulberry,  and  there  was  a 
greater  mortality.  Rural  Cyc.  See,  also,  my  article  in 
August  number,  1861,  of  DeBow's  Review. 

Broussonetia,  papyri/era,  the  paper  mulberry  of  our  yards, 
belongs  to  this  family  (Chapman).  Fustic  is  also  got  from 
the  same  family.  As  the  paper  mulberry  is  planted  in  this 
country,  I  will  insert  the  account  given  by  Wilson  of  its 
uses.  The  islanders  of  the  Pacific  make  a  kind  of  clothing 
from  this  tree,  in  the  following  manner:  twigs  of  about 
an  inch  in  diameter  are  cut  and  deprived  of  their  bark, 
which  is  divided  into  strips,  and  left  to  macerate  for  some 
time  in  running  water;  after  the  epidermis  has  been  scraped 
off,  and  while  yet  moist,  the  strips  are  laid  out  upon  a  plank 
in  such  a  manner  that  they  touch  at  their  edges,  and  two  or 
three  layers  of  the  same  are  placed  upon  them,  taking  care 
to  preserve  an  equal  thickness  throughout.  At  the  end  of 
twenty-four  hours  the  whole  mass  is  adherent,  when  it  is 
removed  to  a  large  flat  and  perfectly  smooth  table,'  and  is 
beaten  with  little  wooden  clubs  till  it  has  attained  the  re- 
quisite  thickness.     It   is   easily  torn,  and    requires   to   be 


308 

washed  and  beaten  many  times  before  it  acquires  its  full 
suppleness  and  whiteness.  The  paper  which  is  used  in  Ja- 
pan, and  many  other  countries  in  the  East  Indies,  is  made 
from  this  plant;  for  this  purpose  the  annual  shoots  are  cut 
oft'  after  the  fall  of  the  leaves,  tied  in  bundles,  and  boiled 
in  water  mixed  with  ashes;  after  which  the  bark  is  stripped 
off  by.  longitudinal  incisions,  and  deprived  of  the  brown 
epidermis.  The  bark  of  the  more  tender  shoots  furnishes 
a  very  white  paper  for  writing.  Hair  pencils  must  be  used 
in  writing  on  this  paper.  Silk-worms  eat  the  leaves  of  this 
tree  also.     Rural  Cyc. 

Ficus  carica.  Fig.  Ex.  Cult.  Flourishes  in  South  Caro- 
lina. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  The  fruit  is  well  known;  the  juice 
has  been  substituted  for  sympathetic  ink,  as  the  characters 
written  with  it  are  not  visible  till  exposed  to  the  sun.  The 
decoction />f  the  green  branches  and  leaves  imparts  a  deep 
gold  color,  of  a  brown  shade,  to  cloth  prepared  with  a  so- 
lution of  bismuth.  We  have  heard  it  stated  as  a  curious 
fact,  that  there  is  but  one  male  fig  in  America,  which  grows 
in  Louisiana!  Some  botanists  describe  the  plant  as  con- 
taining both  stamens  and  pistils  within  the  fruit  or  pericarp. 

Figs  are  excellent  pabulum  for  vinegar.  Vinegar  should 
be  constantly  replenished  with  over-ripened  figs. 

The  following  easy  process  of  making  white  vinegar  from 
honey  may  not  be  amiss,  even  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  which 
professes  to  teach  all  economical  modes  of  becoming  inde- 
pendent of  foreign  supplies.  It  is  obtained  from  Wilson's 
Rural  Cyc.  The  materials  can  be  easily  obtained.  Four 
very  good  kinds  of  household  vinegar,  perfectly  suitable  for 
pickling,  and  for  other  domestic  purposes,  may  easily  be 
made  from  respectively — honey,  brown  sugar,  British  wines, 
and  sour  ale.  First,  as  to  honey  or  white  vinegar:  dissolve 
three-quarters  of  a  pound  of  honey  in  rain-water,  and  put 
it  into  a  seven-gallon  cask,  with  a  quart  of  malt  spirit; 
shake  it  well,  then  fill  up  the  cask  with  rain-water;  shake 
it   well,   and  keep  near  the  kitchen  fire,   where  it  must 


•  809 

stand  without  being  moved  or  shaken.  Let  it  remain  five 
months  in  this  place,  and  the  vinegar  will  be  made.  Draw 
it  oft*  by  piercing  the  lower  part  ot  the  cask,  and  let  it  run 
till  the  concretion  which  is  formed  at  the  top,  and  is  termed 
"mother  of  vinegar,"  begins  to  appear.  You  ma}'  then 
begin  the  process  again  without  cleaning  the  cask.  Prop- 
erly toasted  bread,  saturated  with  yeast,  would  take  the 
place  of  the  malt  spirit  referred  to  above.  See  article 
"Vinegar"  in  Rural  Cyc.  for  other  methods. 

The  fruit  is  well  known.  Even  this,  when  properly  pre- 
pared for  market  in  the  warmer  portion  of  the  states  of  our 
Confederacy,  constitutes  an  article  both  for  export  and  for 
home  consumption.  Many  persons  believe  implicitly  in  the 
power  of  the  atmosphere  about  this  tree  to  render  meat  ten- 
der. Our  "Southern  matrons"  now  put  up  this  fruit  in  a 
most  palatable  shape  for  winter  use,  dried  in  the  sun,  after 
being  boiled  in  a  syrup.  The  celestial  fig  is  the  best  for 
this  purpose.  Molasses  can  also  be  made  from  the  fig  and 
watermelon.  Mr.  C.  H.  Owen,  of  Charleston,  sends  a  spec- 
imen to  the  Charleston  Courier,  made  from  the  white  fig. 
One  peck  yielded  three  pints.  From  a  bushel  he  obtained 
seven  quarts,  according  to  the  following  directions: 

"Wash  the  figs,  then  put  them  in  a  porcelain  vessel; 
cover  with  pure  water,  boil  carefully  one  hour.  When  cool, 
strain  through  a  muslin  cloth;  then  boil  again  until  it  is 
boiled  down  to  a  proper  consistency,  which  you  can  easily 
tell  by  dipping  up  a  spoonful  and  cooling.  The  above  is  all 
the  preparation  necessary.  In  boiling  for  the  last  time, 
take  the  scum  off." 

"F.  J.  S."  a  correspondent  of  the  Charleston  Mercury, 
writes  as  follows  on  "  our  resources  :" 

"You  spoke,  in  the  article  above  alluded  to,  of  different 
coloring  substances.  The  juice  of  the  skin  of  our  blue  jig 
is  abundant,  and  of  a  deep,  brilliant  red  color;  a  half-page 
written  with  it  a  few  days  since  had  the  appearance  of  hav- 
ing been  done  with  red  ink. 

The  pomegranate,  which  grows  in  great  abundance  in 
Southern  Georgia,  furnishes,  in  the  rind  of  the  fruit,  a  jet- 


310 

black  fluid,  which  writes  very  smoothly,  and  retains  its  jetty 
hue.     The  metallic  pen  used  may  darken  its  color." 

I  have  seen  blue  cakes  resembling  indigo,  intended  for 
dyeing,  and  marked  fig  blue — probably  extracted  from  the 
skins  of  the  fig.  The  fig  makes  excellent  pipe-stems.  Since 
the  war  the  stems  of  the  fig  and  titi  (Cliftonia)  have  formed 
favorite  materials  for  pipe-stems,  perforated  with  a  heated 
wire. 

Ulmaceje.     ( The  Elm  Tribe.) 

Ulmus  fulva.  Slippery  elm.  I  have  observed  it  in  Fair- 
field district.     It  is  sometimes  found  lower  down. 

Am.  Herbal,  139;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap. 
228;  U.  S.  Disp.  727;  Dr.  McDowell's  Med.  Exam.  244; 
West.  Jour.  Med.  and  Phys.  Sc;  Michaux,  Fl.  Americana, 
i,  172;  and  K  Am.  Sylva,  iii,  89;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  563. 
A  decoction  of  the  bark  was  much  used  by  the  Indians  in 
the  cure  of  leprosy.  It  is  an  excellent  demulcent  employed 
as  an  emollient  application,  and  internally  is  especially  re- 
commended in  suppression  of  urine,  inflammation  of  the 
bladder,  dysentery,  and  diarrhoea.  A  decoction  made  of 
this,  combined  with  the  root  of  the  sassafras,  and  guaiac,  is 
esteemed  as  a  valuable  drink  to  increase  cutaneous  transpi- 
ration, and  to  improve  the  tone  of  the  digestive  organs. 
Griffith  considers  it  a  good  substitute  for  acacia,  and  he  has 
witnessed  its  beneficial  effects,  externally  applied,  in  obsti- 
nate cases  of  herpetic  and  syphilitic  eruptions;  he  is  in- 
clined to  ascribe  higher  curative  powers  to  it  than  are 
generally  admitted.  It  forms  a  good  vehicle  for  enemata, 
where  a  mucilaginous  fluid  is  required.  The  bark,  cut  in 
the  form  of  a  bougie,  has  been  used  in  dilating  sinuses  and 
contractions  of  the  urethra.  The  substance  exuding  from 
the  bark  is  called  ulmin.  It  should  be  largely  collected  for 
the  use  of  our  soldiers — suitable  wherever  a  highly  mucil- 
aginous substance  is  required.  See  " Sesamum."  This'  is 
the  best  wood  we  have  for  blocks,  and  is  excellent  for  rails, 
as  it  splits  easily,  and  is  of  long  duration.  It  is  more  dura- 
ble than  the  white  elm. 


311 

TJlmus  Americana,  Mx.  White  elm.  Vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  799;  Coxe,  Am. 
Disp.  611;  Phil.  Med.  Mus.  11.  The  U.  fuloa  probably 
referred  to. 

The  wood  of  the  white  elm,  like  that  of  the  common 
European  elm,  is  of  a  dark  brown;  and  cut  transversely,  or 
obliquely  to  the  longitudinal  fibres,  it  exhibits  the  same  nu- 
merous and  fine  undulations,  but  it  splits  more  easily,  and 
has  less  compactness.  It  is,  however,  used  at  the  North  for 
the  naves  of  coach-wheels,  because  it  is  difficult  to  procure 
the  black  gum.  In  Maine  it  is  used  for  the  keels  of  vessels. 
Its  bark  is  said  to  be  easily  detached  during  eight  months 
of  the  year;  soaked  in  water,  and  suppled  by  pounding,  it  is 
used  in  the  Northern  states  for  the  bottoms  of  common 
chairs.     Michaux. 

Ulmus  alata,  Mx.  "Wahoo.  Rich  soils;  Florida;  South 
and  North  Carolina. 

The  wood  is  fine  grained,  more  compact,  heavier,  and 
stronger  than  that  of  the  American  white  elm.  It  is  em- 
ployed for  coach-wheels,  and  is  even  preferred  to  the  black 
gum,  as  being  more  hard  and  tough.  Michaux.  Farmer's 
Encyc. 

From  the  Montgomery  Advertiser  (1862)  I  obtain  the 
following: 

"  Wahoo  rope.- — AVe  have  seen  a  specimen  of  rope  made  of 
wahoo  bark,  by  Mr.  T.  J.  Howard,  of  this  county.  Mr. 
Howard  has  used  the  wahoo  rope  with  great  success  in 
bagging  cotton  on  Col.  Baldwin's  place,  and  we  can  safely 
recommend  his  contrivance  to  the  attention  of  planters. 
The  common  impression  is  that  the  bark  is  not  in  good 
condition  except  in  the  spring  of  the  year.  This  is  a  mis- 
take. It  can  be  used  to  great  advantage  at  this  season  in 
bagging  cotton.  The  manner  of  using  the  rope  made  of 
wahoo  bark  is  altogether  similar  to  that  which  has  been  in 
ordinary  use." 


312 

Celtis  occidentalism  L.  Sugar-berry.  A  noble  tree,  grow- 
ing along  the  margin  of  streams,  and  in  damp  lands;  col- 
lected in  St.  John's ;  vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach  ;  Newbern. 
Fl.  June. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  170;  Fl.  Med.  i,  90; 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  563.  It  yields  a  gum  resembling  that  of 
the  cherry  tree;  the  root  and  leaves  are  somewhat  aromatic, 
and  were  used  by  the  Indians  in  syphilis.  The  berries  have 
a  sweet  and  pleasant  taste. 

The  wood  of  this  tree  resembles  closely,  says  Wilson, 
that  of  the  C.  australis.  The  timber  of  the  latter  is  exceed- 
ingly durable,  and  was  formerly  employed  by  British  coach- 
makers  for  making  the  frames  of  their  vehicles;  and  by  the 
Italian  musical-instrument-makers  for  making  flutes  and 
pipes.     Rural  Cyc. 

MYRiCACEiE.     {The  Gale  Tribe.) 

Aromatic  and  sometimes  astringent. 

Myrica  cerifera,  L.  Wax  myrtle.  Grows  abundantly  in 
the  swamps  of  the  lower  country;  Newbern.     Fl.  May. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  278;  Matson's  Veg.  Pract.  198; 
U.  S.  Disp.  200;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  786;  Big.  Am. - 
Med.  Bot.  iii,  32;  Am.  Journal  Med.  Sci.  ii,  313;  Bergii, 
Mat.  Med.  ii,  541 ;  Nicholson's  Journal  iv,  187;  Kalm's  Trav- 
els, i,  129;  Dana  in  Silliman's  Journal  1;  Thachal's  U.  S. 
Disp.  288;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  531;  De 
Cand.  Essai,  772;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  180.  The  root  is  a 
powerful  astringent,  and  a  decoction  is  employed  in  diar- 
rhoea, dysentery,  hemorrhage  from  the  uterus,  in  dropsies 
which  succeed  fevers,  and  as  a  gargle  in  sore  throat.  It  is 
also  given  to  some  extent  by  the  vegetable  practitioners. 
Griffith  states  (Med.  Bot,  583)  that  the  bark  of  the  root  is 
also  stimulant  and  acrid,  and  in  doses  of  a  drachm,  causes  a 
sensation  of  heat  in  the  stomach,  followed  by  vomiting  and 
sometimes  diuresis.  The  powder  is  an  active  errhine,  and 
the  leaves  have  some  celebrity  in  domestic  practice,  as  being 
antispasmodic,  antiscorbutic,  and  astringent.  Dr.  Dana 
found  the  powdered  root  powerfully  sternutatory.     Bigelow 


313 

says  that  the  bark  and  leaves  contain  gallic  acid,  tannin, 
resin,  and  a  small  quantity  of  mucilage.  The  berries  afford 
a  large  amount  of  wax,  which  rises  to  the  surface  when 
•the}^  are  boiled,  not  remarkable  for  adhesiveness  or  unctu- 
osity.  Dr.  Bostock  considers  it  a  fixed,  vegetable  oil,  render- 
ed concrete  by  oxygen  ;  and  by  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Dana, 
it  constitutes  one-third  of  the  whole  berry.  It  is  employed 
for  candles,  emitting  a  fragrant  odor,  and  it  also  forms  the 
basis  of  a  fine  soap.  It  appears  to  possess  some  astringent 
and  slightly  narcotic  properties,  and  has  been  administered 
by  Dr.  Fahnestock  in  an  epidemic  of  typhoid  dysentery. 
He  gave  it  in  doses  of  1  to  2  drachms,  and  he  is  of  opinion 
that  its  active  principle  resides  in  the  green  coloring  mat- 
ter. Am.  Journal  Med.  Sci.  ii,  313.  Rafinesque  states  that 
a  tincture  of  the  berries,  with  heracleum,  is  beneficial  in 
flatulent  colic.  De  Cancl.,  Essay  upon  the  Louisiana  Myrtle 
(in  French);  see  Ann.  de  Chim.  xliv,  141,  and  xlvi,  77;  C. 
L.  Cadet,  Mem.  on  the  Myrtle  of  Louisiana  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, Paris;  Thiebault  de  Bernaud,  Mem.  sur  le  cirier,  ou 
arbre  a  cire,  Paris,  1810.  See  my  own  experiments  upon 
the  applicability  of  the  leaves  as  a  substitute  for  oak  bark, 
under  "  Liquidambar,"  sweet-gum. 

"  The  northern  nations  formerly  employed  this  plant  in 
place  of  hops,  and  it  is  still  in  use  for  that  purpose  in  some 
of  the  western  isles ;  unless  it  is  boiled  a  long  time  it  is 
reported  to  occasion  the  headache."  ^Nicholson  also  says, 
in  his  Encyclopaedia,  of  the  M.  cerifera,  that  "it  is  used  in 
tanning  calf-skins  ;  gathered  in  autumn,  it  will  dye  wool 
yellow,  for  which  purpose  it  is  used  both  in  Sweden  and  in 
Wales;  the  Welsh  lay  branches  of  it  upon  and  under  their 
beds  to  keep  off  fleas  and  moths."  Boussingault,  in  his 
Rural  Chemistry  applied  to  Agriculture,  1859,  says  of  the 
wax-bearing  myrtle  :  "  The  fruit  yields  as  much  as  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  of  wax,  and  a  single  shrub  will  yield  from 
twenty-four  to  thirty  pounds  of  berries.  The  crude  wax  is 
green  and  brittle,  and  to  be  made  into  candles  requires  the 
addition  of  a  certain  quantity  of  grease."  Proust  discov- 
ered that  vegetable  wax  formed  part  of  the  green  fecula  of 


314 

many  plants.  In  the  common  cabbage  it  occurs  in  large 
quantity.  Oleine  is  said  to  predominate  in  the  fluid  vege- 
table oils.  See,  on  this  subject,  Styllingia  sebifera.  The 
berries  of  the  Pride  of  India  (Melia)  also  yield  an  oil' 
when  dried  and  boiled.  Wax  has  also  been  collected  by 
scraping  the  stalk  of  the  sugar-cane.  See  "Sorghum,  "  in 
this  volume. 

I  have  repeatedly  seen  the  wax  produced  from  the  myrtle 
in  large  amounts.  The  berries  are  boiled,  and  the  wax 
rises  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  The  boiling  should  be 
continued  a  long  time,  and  the  berries  stirred  and  bruised. 
The  wax  may  be  remelted  to  purify  it.  Four  pounds  of 
this  will  make  forty  pounds  of  soap.  The  candles  made  of 
it  are  dark  green  in  color.  Candles  and  soap  were  made  in 
considerable  amounts  by  the  ladies  in  the  low  country  of 
South  Carolina  during  the  autumn  of  1861  —  fifteen  to 
twenty  dozen  candles  in  one  household. 

Wilson,  in  his  Rural  Cyc,  quotes  Hamilton,  who  says 
that  the  wax,  after  being  skimmed  off  the  water,  should  be 
strained  through  a  coarse  cloth  to  free  it  from  foreign 
matter.  When  no  more  wax  rises,  the  berries  are  removed 
with  a  skimmer  and  a  fresh  supply  put  into  the  same  water, 
taking  care  to  add  boiling  water  to  supply  the  place  of 
that  evaporated  during  the  process.  The  wax  should  be 
dried,  and  melted  again  to  free  it  from  impurity.  See 
Charles  Louis  Cader's  Memoir,  inserted  in  the  Annales  de 
Chimie,  who  said  that  the  myrtle  had  been  successfully 
cultivated  near  Berlin,  and  Hamilton  recommends  its  cul- 
tivation in  England  for  its  wax-producing  properties. 
Abundant  in  the  Confederate  States;  only  a  condition  of 
war  and  blockade  has  induced  us  to  use  it. 

"J.  B."  communicates  the  following  to  the  Charleston 
Courier,  from  a  writer  under  the  signature  of  "Economy," 
from  St.  Paul's  parish,  S.  C.  It  is  also  printed  in  F.  S. 
Holmes'  Southern  Farmer,  p.  236 : 

Large  amount  of  Soap  produced  from  Myrtle  Wax. — I  find 
the  following  recipe  far  making  soap  from  myrtle  wax 
(Myrica  cerifera)  in  an  old  number  of  the  Southern  Agricul- 


315 

turist.  As  one  of  the  complaints  of  soap-makers  is  the 
difficulty  and  expense  of  obtaining  the  grease,  it  will  be 
well  for  us  to  avail  ourselves  of  a  production  of  nature, 
found  abundantly  in  our  lower  country.  The  fruit  is  now 
matured,  and  may  be  had  in  abundance  for  the  picking.  I 
saw,  this  day,  very  good  candles  made  of  myrtle  wax.  I 
trust  our  planters,  residing  in  the  vicinity  of  the  myrtle, 
will  profit  by  these  advantages  before  the  season  for  picking 
lias  passed  : 

"To  three  bushels  and  a  half  of  common  wood  ashes 
add  half  a  bushel  of  unslaked  lime.  This  being  well 
mixed  together,  put  into  a  cask  capable  of  containing  sixty 
gallons,  and  till  up  with  water.  In  forty-eight  hours  the  • 
lye  will  be  strong  enough  to  float  an  egg.  Then  draw  off, 
and  put  from  six  to  eight  gallons  of  it  into  a  copper 
kettle  capable  of  containing  twenty-five  gallons.  To  this 
add  only  four  pounds  of  myrtle  wax.  Keep  constantly 
boiling  for  six  hours.  For  the  first  three  or  four  hours 
•pour  in  occasionally  a  supply  of  strong  lye,  the  whole 
frequently  well  stirred  with  a  ladle.  After  six  hours 
boiling,  throw  two  quarts  of  common  large  grain  salt  into 
the  kettle;  leave  one  hour  more  to  simmer  over  a  slow 
fire.  The  liquor  must  be  placed  in  tubs  to  cool  for  twenty- 
four  hours.  Take  out  the  soap,  wipe  it  clean ;  put  it  to 
dry. 

"The  produce  of  this  soap  when  it  was  weighed  the 
next  day  was  found  to  be  forty-nine  pounds  of  good,  solid 
soap,  from  the  materials  and  by  the  process  above  men- 
tioned. At  the  end  of  six  weeks  the  soap  had  only  lost  a 
few  pounds  from  the  evaporation  of  its  watery  particles. 

"In  many  parts  of  our  state  the  myrtle  tree  is  abundant, 
and  from  three  pecks  to  a  bushel  may  be  gathered  from  a 
hand  per  day.  "Would  it  not  be  worth  the  while  of  the 
planters  to  attend  to  this  matter?  I  am  sure  it  would  save 
them  many  a  dollar." 

A  correspondent,  "  T,"  of  the  Charleston  Courier  writes 
as  follows: 

Soap  and  Candles. — We  have  been  so  long  dependent  on 


316 

our  Yankee  enemies  for  supplies  of  the  above  named 
articles  of  universal  use  that  we  have  forgotten  that  we 
can  make  them  ourselves.  To  our  shame  we  admit  that 
even  on  our  plantations  in  the  low  country  and  seaboard, 
abounding  in  materials  for  making  the  best  candles  in  the 
world,  millions  of  pounds  have  been  annually  permitted  to 
mature  and  decay  unused.  The  low  bush  myrtle,  indigenous 
to  our  coast  from  Virginia  ad  libitum  south,  the  berries  of 
1  which  are  now  mature,  will  afford  a  supply  of  wax;  that, 
with  the  addition  of  one-third  tallow,  will  furnish  candles 
sufficient  to  light  every  house  in  the  Confederacy  for  the 
next  year,  and  put  a  stopper  on  the  exorbitant  extortion 
now  practised  on  the  people  for  that  article.  So,  also,  on 
every  plantation,  nay,  in  almost  every  kitchen,  the  monthly 
waste  of  ashes  and  grease,  with  the  addition  of  a  little 
lime  and  salt,  and  the  labor  of  one  person  for  one  day,  will 
make  soap  enough  to  cleanse  every  man,  woman,  and  child, 
and  their  clothing.  Now,  why  should  we  any  longer  pay 
thirty  cents  a  pound  for  soap,  and  sixty  cents  for  candles? .. 

Since  my  examination  and  recommendation  of  the  myrtle 
leaves  as  a  tanuiniferous  agent,  I  see  that  it  has  been  used 
b}T  Mr.  J.  Commins,  of  Charleston,  in  tanning  leather.  I 
find  that  the  berry  is  also  highly  astringent. 

I  had  observed,  also,  an  unusual  amount  of  astringency 
in  the  berries  of  the  myrtle.  The  water  in  which  they  are 
boiled,  with  copperas,  is  used  as  a  dye.  I  have  seen  an 
excellent  dark  brown  with  very  little  copperas.  If  walnut 
leaves,  bark,  or  the  rind  of  the  fruit  is  added  the  color  is 
very  black.  I  am  informed  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  S.  C, 
that  a  blue  dye  is  obtained  without  a  mordant,  by  using 
the  same  water  repeatedly  in  boiling  the  berries  for  the 
extraction  of  the  wax !     This  seems  an  unexpected  result. 

Myrica  Carolinensis.  Grows  in  dry  soils;  Richland,  Prof. 
Gibbes  ;  collected  in  St.  John's;  Newbern. 

Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  583.  Supposed  to  possess  similar 
properties  with  the  above.  It  can  scarcely  be  distinguished 
from  the  others. 


317 


JuglandacEjE.     (The  Walnut  Tribe.) 

Juglans  tittered;  L.  Butternut;  oil-nut.  Grows  in  the 
mountains  of  South  Carolina.     Fl.  April. 

U.  S.  Disp.  710;  Archives  Gen.  3e  serie,  x,  399,  and  xi, 
40;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  131.  "The  inner  bark  of 
the  root  affords  one  of  the  most  mild  and  efficient  laxatives 
we  possess."  The  extract  was  a  favorite  remedy  in  Gener- 
al Marion's  camp  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  It  is 
very  efficacious  in  habitual  constipation,  in  doses  of  ten  to 
thirty  grains;  the  first  acting  as  a  laxative,  the  maximum 
purging.  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  115;  Mx.  N".  Am.  Sylva, 
160;  where  it  is  spoken  of  as  a  mild  cathartic,  operating 
without  pain  or  irritation,  and  resembling  rhubarb  in  its 
property  of  evacuating  without  debilitating  the  alimentary 
canal.  Dr.  Rush  employed  it  during  the  war.  Wood  says 
it  is  highly  esteemed  in  dysentery ;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  181. 
The  rind  of  the  fruit  and  the  skin  of  the  kernel  are  ex- 
tremely astringent,  anthelmintic,  and  cathartic;  the  oil 
extracted  from  the  fruit  is  of  a  very  drying  nature.  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  687  (J.  cathartica.)  He  re- 
marks that  the  inner  bark  of  the  root  is  acrid  and  caustic, 
and  purges,  but  occasions  neither  heat  nor  irritation  ;  adapt- 
ed to  bilious  constitutions  and  to  dysentery;  often  combined 
with  calomel.  It  is  given  to  animals  in  a  disease  called 
"yellow  water";  Bull,  des  Sci.  Med.  Fer.  xii,  338.  To 
extract  the  cathartic  principle,  the  bark  is  boiled  in  water 
for  several  hours;  remove  the  extraneous  matter,  and  boil 
down  the  decoction  to  the  consistence  of  honey  or  mo- 
lasses—pills may  be  made  of  this.  A  syrup  may  also  be 
made.  The  bark  is  strongest  in  the  early  summer.  The 
powdered  leaves  are  rubefacient,  and  act  as  a  substitute 
for  cantharides.  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  365.  The  bark  of  the 
branches  affords  a  large  quantity  of  soluble  matter,  chiefly 
of  the  extractive  kind,  water  seeming  to  be  a  solvent. 
Wetherill  found  in  it  fixed  oil,  resin,  saccharine  matter, 
lime,  potash,  a  peculiar  principle,  and  tannin.  Dr.  B.  S. 
Barton,  in  his  Collections,  23,  32,  thinks  it  is  possessed  of 


318 

some  anodyne  property.  Dr.  Gray  ascertained  that  four 
trees,  eight  to  ten  inches  in  diameter,  produced  in  one 
day  nine  quarts  of  sap,  from  which  was  made  one  pound 
and  a  quarter  of  sugar,  equal,  if  not  superior  to  that  pro- 
duced from  the  maple.  This  plant  is  alwa}7s  given  in  the 
form  of  extract  or  decoction.  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  589 ; 
Thacher's  Disp.  245;  Rush's  Med.  Obs.  i,  112;  Pe.  Mat. 
Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  767 ;  Lind.  Med.  Fl.  387.  The  wood 
of  the  butternut  is  used  for  the  sleepers  and  posts  of  frame 
houses  and  barns,  for  posts,  and  rail  fences,  troughs  for 
cattle,  etc.  For  corn-shovels  and  wooden  dishes  it  is  pre- 
ferred to  the  red  flowering  maples,  because  it  is  lighter  and 
less  liable  to  split ;  consequently,  hollow-ware  and  other 
articles  made  of  it  sell  at  higher  prices.  In  Vermont  the 
wood  is  used  for  the  panels  of  coaches  and  chaises,  being 
well  adapted  for  this  purpose,  not  only  for  its  lightness, 
but  because  it  is  not  liable  to  split.  It  receives  paint  in  a 
superior  manner,  its  pores  being  very  open,  more  so  than 
poplar  and  basswood.      Mx.  Am.  Sylva;  Farmer's  Encyc. 

Juglans  nigra,  L.  Black  walnut.  Diffused  in  lower  and 
upper  country  of  South  Carolina;  iSTewbern.     Fl.  June. 

Mer  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  687;  Griffith,  Med. 
Bot.  vi,  89.  The  bark  is  styptic  and  acrid;  the  rind  of 
the  unripe  fruit  is  said  to  remove  ringworms  and  tetter; 
and  the  decoction  is  given  with  success  as  a  vermifuge. 
"A  kind  of  bread  is  obtained  from  the  fruit."  In  a  commu- 
nication received  from  J.  Douglass,  M.  D.,  of  Chester  dis- 
trict, South  Carolina,  his  correspondent,  Mr.  McKeown, 
informs  me  that  a  bit  of  lint,  dipped  in  the  oil  of  the  wal- 
nut kernel,  and  applied  to  an  aching  tooth,  is  an  effectual 
palliative;  he  has  employed  it  for  thirty  years  with  great 
satisfaction. 

The  following  appeared  in  one  of  the  journals  during  the 
year  1861 : 

Walnut  leaves  in  the  treatment  of  diseases. — Dr.  Negries, 
physician  at  Angiers,  France,  haa  published  a  statement  of 
his  success  in  the  treatment  of  scrofulous  disease  in  differ- 


319 

ent  forms  by  preparations  of  walnut  leaves.  He  has  tried 
walnut  leaves  for  ten  years,  and  of  fifty-six  patients,  afflicted 
in  different  forms,  thirty-one  were  completely  cured,  and 
there  were  only  four  who  appeared  to  have  obtained  no 
advantage.  The  infusion  of  the  walnut  tree  leaves  is  made 
by  cutting  them  and  infusing  a  good  pinch  between  the 
thumb  and  forefinger  in  half  a  pint  of  boiling  water,  and 
then  sweetening  it  with  sugar.  To  a  grown  person,  M. 
ISTegries  prescribed  from  two  to  three  teacups  full  of  this 
daily.  This  medicine  is  a  slightly  aromatic  bitter ;  its  effi- 
ciency is  nearly  uniform  in  scrofulous  disorders,  and  it  is 
stated  never  to  have  caused  any  unpleasant  effects.  It 
augments  the  activity  of  circulation  and  digestion,  and  to 
the  functions  imparts  much  energy.  It  is  supposed  to  act 
upon  the  lymphatic  system,  as  under  its  influence  the 
muscles  become  Arm,  and  the  skin  acquires  a  ruddier  hue. 

Dry  leaves  may  be  used  throughout  the  winter,  but  a 
syrup  made  of  green  leaves  is  more  aromatic.  A  salve 
made  of  a  strong  extract  of  the  leaves  mixed  alone  with 
clean  lard  and  a  few  drops  of  the  oil  of  bergamot  is  most 
excellent  for  sores.  A  strong  decoction  of  the  leaves  is 
excellent  for  washing  them.  The  salutary  effects  of  this 
medicine  do  not  appear  on  a  sudden — no  visible  effect  may 
be  noticed  for  twenty  days,  but  perseverance  in  it  will  effect 
a  cure.  As  walnut  tree  leaves  are  abundant  in  America, 
and  as  the  extract  of  them  is  not  dangerous  or  unpleasant 
to  use,  and  scrofula  not  uncommon,  a  trial  of  this  simple 
medicine  should  be  made.  In  directing  attention  to  it 
good  results  may  be  expected. 

A  gray  dye  may  be  prepared  with  young,  unripe  walnuts. 
The  walnuts  should  be  beaten  in  a  mortar,  boiled  with 
water  —  the  yarn  is  previously,  prepared  with  lye-water. 
See  "Rhus" 

I  obtain  the  following  from  a  journal  (1862) : 

To  dye  wool  yam  a  durable  black  without  copperas. — Place 
in.  a  kettle  a  layer  of  walnut  leaves,  then  a  layer  of  yarn, 
then  a  layer  of  leaves  and  another  of  yarn,  and  so  on  till 
the  kettle  is  full ;  pour  on  water  till  all  is  covered,  and  boil 


320 

all  day.  The  next  morning  pour  off  the  liquor  into  another 
vessel,  and  put  fresh  leaves  with  the  yarn  in  layers  as 
before,  and  pour  the  same  liquor  over  it  and  boil  again  all 
day.  Then  hang  the  yarn  in  the  air  a  few  days,  after 
which  wash  it  and  it  will  be  a  fine  black. 

The  walnut  leaves  should  be  gathered  in  the  autumn  just 
as  they  begin  to  fall  from  the  trees. 

Both  the  black  and  white  walnut  possess  a  durable  wood, 
and  are  secure  from  the  annoyance  of  worms.  The  stem 
of  the  black  walnut  is  easily  perforated,  and  like  the  titi 
(Gliftonia)  is  much  used  for  pipe-stems  among  the  soldiers 
in  camp.     The  fig  is  also  used  for  the  same  purpose. 

At  a  convention  of  gunsmiths,  held  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Aug. 
29,  1861,  some  facts  were  elicited  which  are  interesting  in 
this  connection. 

Mr.  Hodgkins,  a  gunsmith,  stated  "that  the  greatest  dif- 
ficulty was  to  get  wood  for  the  stocks ;  that  wood  of  one  or 
two  j'ears  was  not  sufficiently  seasoned.  It  ought  to  be 
cut  twenty  years.  The  bark  should  be  taken  off  the  tree 
at  once.  Some  thought  it  best  to  cut  the  timber  in  the 
summer,  others  in  the  fall  or  winter."  Gen.  Wayne  read 
the  following  from  the  Ordnance  Manual : 

"  The  most  suitable  season  for  felling  timber  is  that  in 
which  vegetation  is  at  rest,  which  is  the  case  in  midwinter 
or  midsummer.  Recent  experiments  incline  to  give  the 
preference  to  the  latter  season  —  say  the  month  of  July ; 
but  the  usual  practice  is  to  fell  trees  for  timber  between  the 
first  of  December  and  the  middle  of  March." 

"Gen.  Wayne,  on  being  inquired  of,  gave  it  as  his  opin- 
ion that  there  was  no  artificial  process  of  seasoning  wood 
that  would  answer  for  making  gunstocks. 

"  Mr.  Esper  said  that  maple  timber  could  be  seasoned 
rapidly  by  being  boiled  in  oil.  It  prevented  its  cracking. 
It  soon  seasoned  thoroughly,  and  would  not  spring. 

"  Mr.  Lamb  stated  that  walnut  was  the  best  for  stocking 
guns,  but  harder  to  season.  It  required  a  great  number  ot 
years — say  twent}7  years,  or  nearly  so.  Maple  was  next,  and 
persimmon  the  next.  These  could  be  seasoned  by  artificial 
process." 


321 

The  reader  will  find  some  information  on  the  felling  of 
timber  in  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  I  have  seen  beautiful 
walnut  obtained  from  the  roots  of  old  trees  which  had  died. 

The  fruit  is  edible,  and  pleasant  to  the  taste.  The  wood 
is  very  compact  and  durable,  with  a  black,  fine  grain,  sus- 
ceptible of  a  high  polish,  and  forming  a  valuable  substitute 
for  mahogany,  from  which,  when  seasoned  and  varnished, 
it  can  scarcely  be  distinguished.  It  is  much  used  in  South 
Carolina  in  the  manufacture  of  tables,  stair-railings,  and 
the  inner  work  of  houses.  The  writer  has  seen  as  beautiful 
book-cases,  tables,  stair-railings,  and  cabinet-work  made 
from  the  wood  prepared  on  our  Southern  plantations,  when 
well  seasoned,  as  any  imported  from  elsewhere.  The  roots 
have  a  peculiarly  rich  black  color,  and  are  useful  in  making 
gunstocks. 

The  trunk  of  a  walnut  tree,  tapped  on  the  11th  February, 
yielded  a  sap  containing  some  cane  sugar.  The  saps  of  the 
sycamore,  of  the  Acer  negundo,  and  of  the  lilac  tree,  con- 
tained the  same  species  of  sugar;  but  that  of  the  birch 
tree  held  in  solution  some  grape  sugar.  In  the  sycamore 
and  birch  tree  M.  Biot  observed  an  extremely  interesting 
fact.  He  ascertained,  on  felling  these  trees,  that  the  greater 
portion  of  the  descending  sap  was  accumulated  toward  the 
middle  of  the  trunk.  That  of  the  birch  tree  was  acid  and 
saccharine  ;  the  sap  of  that  portion  of  the  trunk  which  was 
buried  in  the  ground  contained  no  sugar,  but  a  substance 
possessing  the  principal  characters  of  gum.  {Annates  du 
Museum  d'Hisloire  Naturelle,  t.  ii.)  It  was  probably  an 
eil'ect  of  the  season,  for  Knight  states  that  he  never  could 
discover  the  least  trace  of  saccharine  matter  during  winter 
in  the  alburnum  either  of  the  stem  or  of  the  roots  of  the 
sycamore.  Boussingault's  Rural  Econ.  in  its  relation  to 
Chemistry,  etc.,  Law's  edition,  1857. 

Walnut  leaves  soaked  in  water  for  some  hours,  then 
boiled  and  applied  to  the  skins  of  horses  and  other  animals, 
will  prevent  their  being  bitten  or  worried  by  flies. 

In  Patent  Office  Reports,  1855,  is  a  paper  on  the  Persian 
walnut,  or  Maderia  nut  (Juglans  regia),  which  appears  to  be 
21 


322 

well  adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  Middle  or  Southern 
states.  It  produces  an  immense  amount  of  oil  and  cake. 
It  is  preferred  to  linseed  oil,  and  gives  an  excellent  light. 
The  husk  of  the  walnut  is  used  in  dyeing  woollen  stuffs. 

Carya  amara,  porcina,  alba,  etc.  Ell.  Sk.  Hickory.  The 
barks  are  astringent. 

A  dye  for  woollens  used  on  the  plantation  is  made  from 
that  of  most  of  the  species.  The  fruit  of  many  of  the 
hickory  trees  is  pleasant  to  the  taste,  particularly  the  C. 
alba,  shell-bark  hickory,  which  is  an  article  of  trade.  It 
should  be  spared  in  clearing  land. 

To  color  yellow. — "Take  three-fourths  of  hickory  bark, 
with  the  outside  shaved  off,  and  one-fourth  of  black  oak 
bark  done  in  the  same  manner;  boil  them  well  together  in 
a  bell  metal  kettle  until  the  color  is  deep ;  then  add  alum 
sufficient  to  make  it  foam  when  stirred  up,  then  put  the 
yarn  in  and  let  it  simmer  a  little  while ;  take  it  out  and  air 
it  two  or  three  times,  having  a  pole  over  the  kettle  to  hang 
it  on,  so  that  it  may  drain  in  the  kettle;  when  dry  rinse  it 
in  cold  water."  Thornton's  Southern  Gardener,  p.  182. 
The  writer  has  seen  negro  clothes  and  other  stuffs  dyed  on 
the  plantations  with  either  hickory  or  oak  barks,  either 
alum  or  commercial  copperas  being  used.  The  crab-apple 
dyes  a  canary  color.  The  hickory  bark,  with  copperas,  dyes 
yarns  an  olive  color — with  alum,  a  green — the  yarns  must 
be  put  in  hot.  The  wood  of  the  hickory  yields  a  very  fine 
lye  when  reduced  to  ashes,  and  I  will  include  much  that  is 
said  of  soap  under  this  genus.  The  wood  is  also  valuable 
for  many  purposes  in  the  mechanical  arts  on  account  of  its 
weight,  pliability,  toughness,  and  durability.  In  Pennsyl- 
vania an  oil  is  extracted  from  the  nuts  of  the  C.  amara, 
butternut  hickory,  which  is  used  for  the  lamp,  and  for  other 
inferior  purposes.  I  would  suggest  that  the  nuts  of  any 
species  would  serve,  if  broken  and  boiled,  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  soap.     I  insert  the  following  from  Michaux : 

"  Properties  and  uses  of  hickory  wood. — The  wood  of  all  the 
species  of  hickory  bears  a  striking  resemblance,  both  as  to 


328 

fibre  and  the  uniform  reddish  color  of  the  heart.  It  pos- 
sesses great  weight,  strength,  and  unusual  pliability  and 
toughness.  When  exposed  to  heat  and  moistur.e  it  is  sub- 
ject to  rapid  decay,  and  is  peculiarly  liable  to  injury  from 
worms. 

"  Throughout  the  Middle  states  it  is  selected  for  the  axle- 
trees  of  carriages,  for  the  handles  of  axes  and  other  carpen- 
ters' tools,  and  for  large  screws,  particularly  those  of  book- 
binders' presses.     The  cogs  of   mill-wheels   are  made  of 
hickory  heart,  thoroughly  seasoned;  but  it  is  proper  only 
for  such  wheels  as  are  not  exposed  to  moisture  ;^,nd  for  this 
reason  some  other  wood  is  by  many  millwrights  preferred. 
The  rods  which  form  the  backs  of  Windsor  chairs,  coach- 
whip  handles,  musket-stocks,  rake-teeth,  flails  for  thrashing 
grain,  the  bows  of  yokes,  or  the  elliptical  pieces  which  pass 
under  the  necks  of  cattle:  all  these  are  objects  customarily 
made  of  hickory.     At  Baltimore  it  is  used  for  the  hoops  of 
sieves,  and  is  more  esteemed  than  the  white  oak,  which  is 
equally  elastic,  but  more  apt  to  peeloff  in  small  shreds  into 
the    substance    sifted.     In   the    country  near   Augusta,  in 
Georgia,  I  have  remarked  that  the  common  chairs  are  of 
hickory  wood.     In  New  Jersey  it  is  employed  for  shoeing 
sledges — that  is,  for  covering  the  runners  or  parts  which 
slide  upon  the  snow;  but  to  be  proper  for  this  use  it  must 
have  been  cut  long  enough  to  have  become  perfectly  dry. 

"Of  the  numerous  trees  of  North  America  east  of  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  none  except  the  hickory  is  perfectly 
adapted  to  the  making  of  hoops  for  casks  and  boxes.  For 
this  purpose  vast  quantities  of  it  are  consumed  at  home,  and 
exported  to  the  West  India  islands.  The  hoops  are  made 
of  young  hickories  from  six  to  twelve  feet  high,  without 
choice  as  to  the  species.  The  largest  hoop-poles  sold  at 
Philadelphia  and  New  York  in  February,  1808,  at  three  dol- 
lars a  hundred.  Each  pole  is  split  in  two  parts,  and  the  hoop 
is  crossed  and  confined  by  notches,  instead  of  being  bound 
at  the  end  with  twigs,  like  those  made  of  chestnut.  From 
the  solidity  of  the  wood,  this  method  appears  sufficiently 
secure. 


324 

"When  it  is  considered  how  large  a  part  of  the  produc- 
tions of  the  United  States  is  packed  for  exportation  in 
barrels,  an.  estimate  maybe  formed  of  the  necessary  con- 
sumption of  hoops.  In  consequence  of  it,  young  trees 
proper  for  this  object  have  become  scarce  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  which  have  been  long  settled.  The  evil  is  greater, 
as  they  do  not  sprout  a  second  time  from  the  same  root,  and 
as  their  growth  is  slow.  The  cooper  cannot  lay  up  a  store 
of  them  for  future  use,  for  unless  employed  within  a  year, 
and  often  within  six  months  after  being  cut,  they  are  at- 
tacked by  tjvo  species  of  insect,  one  of  which  eats  within 
the  wood,  and  commits  the  greatest  ravages. 

"The  defects  which  unfit  the  hickory  for  use  in  the  build- 
ing of  houses  equally  exclude  it  from  the  construction  of 
vessels.  At  'New  York  and  Philadelphia  the  shell-bark  and 
pignut  hickories  have  been  taken  for  keels,  and  are  found 
to  last  as  long  as  those  of  other  wood,  owing  to  their  being 
always  in  the  water.  Of  the  two  species,  the  pignut  would 
be  preferable,  as  being  less  liable  to  split,  but  it  is  rarely 
found  of  as  large  dimensions  as  the  other. 

"In  sloops  and  schooners  the  rings  by  which  the  sails  are 
hoisted  and  confined  to  the  mast  are  always  of  hickory.  I 
have  also  been  assured  that  for  attaching  the  cordage  it 
makes  excellent  pegs,  which  are  stronger  than  those  of  oak; 
but  they  should  be  set  loosely  in  the  holes,  as  otherwise,  for 
want  of  speedily  seasoning,  they  soon  decay.  For  hand- 
spikes the  hickory  is  particularly  esteemed  on  account  of 
its  strength ;  it  is  accordingly  employed  in  most  American 
vessels,  and  is  exported  for  the  same  purpose  to  England, 
where  it  sells  from  50  to  100  per  cent,  higher  than  ash, 
which  is  brought  also  from  the  north  of  the  United  States. 
The  hickories  are  cut  without  distinction  for  this  use,  but 
the  pignut,  I  believe,  is  the  best. 

"All  the  hickories  are  very  heavy,  and  in  a  given  volume 
contain  a  great  quantity  of  combustible  matter.  They  pro- 
duce an  ardent  heat,  and  leave  a  heavy,  compact,  and  long- 
lived  coal.  In  this  respect  no  wood  of  the  same  latitude  in 
Europe  or  America  can  be  compared  to  them;  such,   at 


325 

least,  is  the  opinion  of  all  Europeans  who  have  resided  in 
the  United  States. 

"It  has  been  seen  by  what  precedes  that  though  hickory 
wood  has  essential  defects,  they  are  compensated  by  good 
properties  which  render  it  valuable  in  the  arts." 

In  concluding  this  article,  Michaux  recommends  particu- 
larly for  propagation  in  European  forests  the  shell-bark 
hickory  and  the  pignut  hickory,  whose  wood  unites  in  the 
highest  degree  the  valuable  properties  of  the  group.  He 
thinks,  also,  that  the  pecan-nut  merits  attention  from  pro- 
moters of  useful  culture,  not  so  much  for  its  wood  as  for  its 
fruit,  which  is  excellent,  and  more  delicate  than  that  of  the 
European  walnut.  It  might  probably  be  doubled  in  size, 
if  the  practice  was  successfully  adopted  of  grafting  this 
species  upon  the  black  walnut,  or  upon  the  common  Euro- 
pean walnut. 

Oak  and  hickory  bands  for  cotton  bales. — A  tie  dispensing 
with  the  use  of  iron  or  rope  bands  in  baling  cotton  has  been 
patented.  The  editor  of  the  Southern  Field  and  Fireside 
says  on  this  subject:  "Precisely  such  'ties'  have  been  used 
to  fasten  strong  hoops  on  tubs  in  distilleries  and  breweries 
a  longer  time  than  any  living  man  can  remember.  Thirty 
years  ago  we  made  a  score  of  large  tubs  for  tanning  leather, 
and  tied  the  staves  together  (made  of  two-inch  plank)  as 
above  described,  save  the  teeth  on  the  iron  rings  or  bands. 
The  fastening  is  very  simple,  and  perfectly  reliable.  A 
small  iron  ring,  formed  like  the  capital  letter  D,  is  the  thing. 
It  should  hold  both  ends  of  a  hoop  two  inches  wide,  each 
end  being  a  half-inch  in  thickness;  and  also  a  wedge 
three-fourths  of  an  inch  thick.  Such  a  hoop,  made  of  oak, 
ash,  or  hickory,  will  have  more  than  four  times  the  strength 
of  the  rope  usually  employed  in  baling  cotton.  Green  or 
sound  wood  is  hard  to  break  when  pulled  lengthwise.  On 
our  Southern  plantations  oak,  hickory,  ash,  and  grape-vines 
are  much  used  in  place  of  rope  in  baling  hay,  fodder,  etc." 

The  following  practical  remarks  on  the  manufacture  of 
potash  and  soap  I  introduce  here  in  connection  with  the 
hickory,  from  an  editorial  by  Dr.  Lee,  in  the  Southern  Field 


326 

and  Fireside,  January  18,  1862.  (For  "Soda"  see  "Sal- 
sola,"  in  this  book,  and  "  Quereus")  The  ashes  we  may 
obtain  by  burning  corn-cobs  yield  more  potash  than  any 
other  available  substance;  and  the  alkali  from  this  source 
is  rapidly  converted  into  saleratus  or  good  soap.  Corn-cobs 
are  mentioned  because  we  often  see  them  wasted  in  quanti- 
ties where  hogs  are  fed,  and  where  much  corn  is  shelled. 
Soap-makers  at  the  North  buy  all  kinds  of  wood-ashes,  and 
find  no  difficulty  in  making  soap  from  them ;  but  many 
Southern  negroes,  who  make  a  little  soap,  do  not  under- 
stand the  art  under  consideration.  They  require  ashes  from 
hickory,  walnut,  poplar,  or  some  other  wood  rich  in  potash 
to  succeed  in  producing  good  soap.  The  quantity  of  lime 
named  in  the  directions  given  in  the  article  we  copied  is 
two  or  three  times  larger  than  it  need  be.  A  peck  of  re- 
cently slaked  lime  is  abundant  for  a  barrel  of  ashes.  Lime 
that  has  been  long  slaked  and  exposed  to  the  air  will  not 
answer.  The  object  of  the  lime  is  to  decompose  all  the 
carbonate  of  potash  dissolved  out  of  the  ashes,  so  that  the 
pure  alkali  will  combine,  with  grease  or  oil,  to  form  soap. 
When  the  amount  of  potash  in  wood  is  small,  as  in  pines 
and  decayed  wood,  the  whole  of  the  alkali  unites  with  car- 
bonic acid,  or  some  other,  if  free,  when  the  wood  is  burnt. 
When  ashes  are  kept  some  time,  if  partly  caustic  when  first 
burnt  from  wood  they  part  with  their  causticity  by  imbib- 
ing carbonic  acid  from  the  atmosphere,  as  freshly  burnt 
lime  will  do.  Hence,  recently  burnt  ashes  will  often  make 
soap  without  lime,  but  will  not  do  if  kept  several  months. 
As  caustic  lime  has  a  stronger  affinity  for  carbonic  acid  than 
potash  or  soda  has,  soap-makers  find  no  trouble  whatever 
in  making  soap  from  old  ashes,  or  any  ashes  that  have  not 
been  wet  and  washed.  Having  stated  the  reason  why  lime 
is  used,  we  will  give  the  simplest  and  best  practice  in  the 
art  of  combining  potash  with  an  animal  or  vegetable  oil  or 
fat,  which  chemical  compound  is  soap — soft  if  potash  is  used, 
and  hard  if  soda  is  used.  Refuse  barrels  and  hogsheads  are 
often  used  to  drip  and  leach  ashes  in,  and  should  stand  on 
boards  or  plank,  so  as  not  to  waste  the  lye.     This  done,  a 


327 

few  inches  of  clean  broom-straw  should  be  placed  over  all 
the  bottom  of  the  barrel  and  pressed  down.  For  a  hogs- 
head of  ashes,  a  good  bushel  of  recently  slaked  lime 
should  be  spread  evenly  over  all  the  straw;  but  a  peck  of 
lime  will  do  for  a  barrel  of  ashes.  More  lime  will  do  no 
harm,  and  some  ashes  may  require  a  little  more.  ISTow  fill 
up  the  barrel  of  ashes,  pound  them  down  moderately,  and 
pour  on  boiling  water,  or  that  which  is  hot,  until  the  lye 
runs  out  at  the  bottom.  If  the  ashes  were  good,  this  lye 
will  make  soap  with  very  little  boiling;  but  if  the  potash  is 
too  diluted,  some  of  the  water  must  be  evaporated  before 
the  chemical  union  between  the  alkali  and  grease  will  take 
place.  If  too  little  grease  is  put  in  the  pot  or  kettle,  more 
must  be  added;  and  if  there  is  too  much  for  all  to  combine 
with  the  potash,  the  excess  must  be  removed  after,  the  soap 
is  cold.  Where  salt  is  cheap,  it  is  largely  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  bar  soap.  Turpentine  and  rosin  are  also  used  in 
this  branch  of  business.  The  explanations  in  reference  to 
soda  and  turpentine  soap  will  be  given  elsewhere.  Salt  is 
now  too  expensive  to  be  used  in  soap-making. 

In  an  article  on  soap  and  potash  from  the  Atlanta  Com- 
monwealth, in  the  Southern  Field  and  Fireside  for  October, 
1861,  great  stress  is  laid  upon  the  ease  with  which  we  can 
manufacture  potash  in  large  quantity  within  the  limits  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  the  consequent  production 
of  soap:  "But  whether  we  make  our  soap  or  establish 
manufactures,  we  need  lye  or  potash  in  large  quantities. 
To  have  this  we  must  burn  the  light  kind  of  wood,  for 
some  wood  is  better  than  other  sorts,  and  we  must  save  all 
the  ashes  and  take  good  care  of  them.  The  ashes  should 
not  only  be  saved  for  this  purpose,  but  to  be  used  as  ma- 
nure. It  is  a  shame  that  we  have  been  so  long  and  so 
willingly  dependent  on  the  North  for  so  large  a  catalogue 
of  the  commonest  articles,  and  even  for  the  article  of  soap." 
The  following  on  the  same  subject  is  from  the  Richmond 
Dispatch,  which  I  condense:  "The  great  scarcity  of  soap 
at  the  present  time  arises  from  the  want  of  potash  and 
soda  ash.     Either  will  make  soap.     The  latter  is  found  in 


328 

its  natural  state  (natron)  in  Egypt  and  South  America,  but 
the  principal  supply  has  been  obtained  from  Great  Britain, 
procured  by  the  burning  of  sea-weeds.  The  former  (pot- 
ash) is  supplied  mostly  from  Canada  and  the  State  of  New 
York.  There  is  in  the  Confederate  States  any  quantity  of 
material  to  make  potash,  and  I  would  call  the  attention  of 
farmers  to  its  production.  It  requires  but  a  simple  process 
in  its  manufacture — a  few  large  iron  pans  and  a  half-dozen 
whiskey  barrels,  with  heads  out,  and  an  iron  ladle,  being  all 
the  apparatus  required. 

"  Most  weeds  furnish  potash,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
to  every  one  hundred  pounds.  The  following  plants  will 
furnish  of  potash  : 


Oak  wood 2^  lbs 

Wheat  straw A\    " 

Barley  straw 5      " 


Potato  stem 55  lbs. 

Corn-stalks 17    " 

Oak  bark  and  elm  leaves  ....  24    " 


"These  articles  can  be  obtained  by  the  farmers  at  little 
cost.  Select  a  shaded  position,  gather  in  a  large  heap,  set 
fire  to  it,  keeping  the  tire  up  until  several  bushels  of 
ashes  are  obtained ;  fill  each  barrel  about  one-quarter  full 
of  slaked  lime;  fill  it  then  with  water,  stirring  the  ashes 
well;  let  it  stand  over  night,  or  for  about  twelve  hours, 
stirring  frequently ;  strain  off  the  lye  as  clear  as  possible; 
pour  in  the  kettles,  and  evaporate  over  a  wood  fire.  The 
kettle  should  be  kept  constantly  full  for  two  days  (a  little 
experience  will  soon  teach  the  quantity  of  lye  it  will  require 
to  make  them  half  full  with  potash).  The  evaporation 
should  be  continued  until  the  mass  obtains  the  consistency 
of  brown  sugar;  then  increase  the  fire,  by  which  it  will  be 
fused;  continue  it  until  quiescent,  and  looks  like  melted 
iron ;  with  a  ladle  transfer  it  to  iron  pans  or  baking-ovens, 
and  allow  it  to  cool;  it  ma}-  be  then  broken  in  pieces,  and 
packed  in  tight  boxes  or  barrels.  The  experiment  will 
pay  well  any  enterprising  farmer.  The  article  cannot  now 
be  obtained  at  any  cost,  and  can  be  sold  at  a  high  rate. 
We  hope  this  may  induce  some  to  try  it.  The  expense  of 
fixtures  is  small.     Pine  wood  furnishes  but  little  potash." 

Ure,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Science  and  Manufactures,  art. 


329 


Potash,  p.  457,  says :  In  America,  where  timber  is  in  many- 
places  an  incumbrance  upon  the  soil,  it  is  felled,  piled  up 
in  pyramids  and  burned,  solely  with  a  view  to  the  manu- 
facture of  potashes.  The  ashes  are  put  into  wooden  cis- 
terns having  a  plug  at  the  bottom  of  one  of  the  sides  under 
a  false  bottom;  a  moderate  quantity  of  water  is  then  pour- 
ed on  the  mass,  and  some  quick-lime  is  stirred  in;  after 
standing  for  a  few  hours,  so  as  to  take  up  the  soluble  mat- 
ter, the  clear  liquor  is  drawn  off,  evaporated  to  dryness  in 
iron  pots,  and  finally  fused  at  a  red  heat  into  compact 
masses,  which  are  gray  on  the  outside,  and  pink-colored 
within.  All  kinds  of  vegetables  do  not  yield,  he  adds,  the 
same  proportions  of  potassa.  The  more  succulent  the 
plant,  the  more  does  it  afford;  for  it  is  only  in  the  juices 
that  the  vegetable  salts  reside,  which  are  converted  by 
incineration  into  alkaline  matter.  Herbaceous  weeds  are 
more  productive  of  potash  than  the  graminiferous  species, 
or  shrubs,  and  these  than  trees;  and  for  a  like  reason  twigs 
and  leaves  are  more  productive  than  timber.  But  plants 
in  all  cases  are  richest  in  alkaline  salts  when  they  have 
arrived  at  maturity.  The  soil  in  which  they  grow  also 
influences  the  quantity  of  saline  matter.  The  following 
table  exhibits  the  average  product  in  potassa  of  several 
plants,  according  to  the  researches  of  Vauquelin,  Pertuis, 
Ivirwan  and  DeSaussure : 


/)/  1000 />«m 

Potassa. 

Pine  or  fir 0.45 

Poplar 0.75 

Trefoil 0.75 

Beechwood 1.45 

Oak 1.53 

Boxwood 2.26 

Willow 2.85 

Elm  and  maple 3.90 


In  1000  parts 

Potassa. 

Thistles 5.00 

Flag  stems 5.00 

Small  rushes 5.08 

Vine  roots 5.50 

Barley  straw 5.80 

Dry  beech  bark 6.00 

Fern 6.26 

Large  rush 7.22 


Wheat  straw 3.90  Stalk  of  maize 17.15 

Bark  of  oak  twigs 4.20 -.  Bean  stalks 20.00 


In  1000  parts 

Potassa. 

Bastard  chamomile — 
Anthem-is  ontula,  L  .19.06 

Sunflower  stalks 20.00 

Common  nettle 25.03 

Vetch  plant 27.50 

Thistles  in  full  growth35.37 
Dry   straw   of   wheat 

before  earing 47.00 

Wormwood 73.00 

Fumitory 79.00 


Stalks  of  tobacco,  potatoes,  chestnut-husks,  broom-heath, 
furze,  tansy,  sorrel,  vine  leaves,  beet  leaves,  orach,  and  many 
other  plants  abound  in  potash  salts.  In  Burgundy  the  well 
known  cendres  gravelies  are  made  by  incinerating  the  lees 
of  wine  pressed  into  cakes  and  dried  in  the  sun ;  the  ashes 


330 

contain  fully  sixteen  per  cent,  of  potassa.  To  manufacture 
carbonate  of 'potassa,  chlorate,  etc.,  from  ashes,  see  also  Ure's 
Dictionary.  The  corn-shuck  and  cob  contain  potash,  and 
an  economical  soap  is  made  from  corn-shucks.  See  "Zea," 
in  this  volume. 

Count  Chaptal,  "Chemistry  applied  to  Agriculture,"  p. 
290,  refers  to  the  method  of  using  economy  in  washing 
and  bleaching  cloths,  linen,  etc.,  by  a  soapy  liquor,  a  solu- 
tion of  oil  and  soda,  in  place  of  ordinary  soap.  He  also 
introduces  and  describes  a  plan  for  washing  and  cleansing 
household  linen  and  cotton  yarn  by  steam  from  alkaline 
solutions.  The  expense  is  three-sevenths  of  the  expense 
of  the  common  method. 

I  introduce  the  following  from  Chaptal's  Chemistry 
applied  to  Agriculture,  as  it  shows  the  very  different  com- 
position of  different  plants — the  potato,  for  example: 

"  It  appears  that  the  three  earths  which  form  the  basis 
of  the  most  fertile  soil  enter  into  the  composition  of  plants. 
Bergmann  has  proved  this  by  an  analysis  of  several  kinds 
of  grain,  and  Ruckert,  by  the  results  of  his  experiments 
upon  a  variety  of  vegetable  productions,  in  a  way  to  put  it 
beyond  doubt.  About  one  hundred  parts  of  ashes  well 
leached,  and  consequently  disengaged  of  all  their  salts, 
yielded 

Silica.  Lime.  Alumina. 

Ashes  of  wheat 48  37  15 

"      oats, 68  26  6 

"      barley 69  16  15 

"       rye 63  21  16 

"      potatoes 4  66  30 

"      red  clover 37  33  30" 

"Soft  soaps,"  says  Ure,  "are  usually  made  in  this  coun- 
try with  whale,  seal,  olive,  and  linseed  oils,  and  a  certain 
quantity  of  tallow ;  on  the  Continent,  with  the  oils  of 
hemp-seed,  sesame  (beni,  which  is  planted  in  South  Caro- 
lina)^ rapeseed,  linseed,  poppy-seed,  and  colza,  or  with 
mixtures  of  several  of  these  oils.  When  tallow  is  added, 
as  in  Great  Britain,  the  object  is  to  produce  white  and 
somewhat  solid  grains  of  stearic  soap  in  the  transparent 
mass,  called  figging,  because  the  soap  then  resembles  the 


331 

granular  texture  of  a  'fig.'"  "The  potash  lyes  should 
be  made  perfectly  caustic,  and  of  at  least  two  different 
strengths,"  etc.  See  Ure,  p.  668,  for  method.  Any  of 
the  seeds  of  our  oily  plants,  the  cultivation  of  which  I  have 
so  often  recommended,  can  be  pressed  in  a  flannel  bag  in 
an  ordinary  cotton-press.  If  the  pressure  is  exercised  in  a 
warm  room  heated  by  a  stove,  the  escape  of  the  oil  will  be 
much  facilitated.  A  lye  made  of  wood  ashes  will  stop  the 
rust  in  wheat,  if  the  seeds  are  soaked  in  it  before  being  • 
planted  for  two  or  three  hours.  It  is  a  useful  substitute  at 
this  time  for  the  brine  which  is  usually  made  of  sulphate 
of  copper  or  salt. 

As  the  Concentrated  Lye  may  be  made  from  ashes,  I  am 
induced  to  insert  the  following,  on  this  all-important  sub- 
ject. Resin  is  abundant  in  the  Confederate  States,  and 
vegetable  wax  and  oils  can  be  obtained.  See  " Myrica" 
and  bene"  ("  Sesam^im").  See  method  of  preparing  concen- 
trated lye,  "Quercus  alba"  in  this  volume. 

Yellow,  or  rosin  soap. — Dissolve  one  pound  of  concentrat- 
ed ]ye  in  one  half-gallon  of  water,  and  set  it  aside ;  heat  in 
a  kettle  one  gallon  of  water  and  three  and  a  half  pounds 
of  fat  or  tallow,  and  commence  to  make  the  soap  just  as 
above  for  hard  soap,  with  small  quantities  of  lye,  and  a 
very  small  fire,  until  the  soap  is  ready  for  salt,  but  add  no 
salt.  Put  in  now  one  and  three-fourth  pound  of  powdered 
rosin,  and  let  it  boil  down  by  constantly  stirring  until  the 
soap  sticks  on  the  kettle,  and  gets  very  thick.  It  is  now 
finished,  and  may  be  put  into  a  mould. 

Hard  fancy  soap. — Dissolve  one  pound  of  the  concentrat- 
ed lye  in  two  and  a  half  pounds  of  hot  water,  and  let  it 
cool ;  then  melt  by  a  low  heat  five  pounds  of  clear  fat  or 
tallow,  pour  in  the  lye  in  a  very  small  stream,  and  stir  it 
rapidly;  keep  stirring  until  all  has  assumed  the  appearance 
of  thick  honey,  and  falls  off  the  stirrer  in  large  drops.  It 
is  then  finished.  Cover  it  up,  and  set  the  batch  in  a  warm 
place;  or  better,  cover  it  with  a  woollen  blanket  to  keep  in 
the  heat,  and  let  it  stand  for  twenty-four  hours,  when  it 
will  have  set  into  a  fine,  hard  soap,  which  may  be  per- 


332 

fumed  and  variegated  with  colors  by  stirring  the  desired 
colors  or  perfumes  into  the  mixture  just  before  covering. 
If  lard  or  olive  oil  is  used,  no  heating  of  the  same  is 
required. 

Soft  snap. — To  one  pound  of  the  concentrated  lye  add 
three  gallons  of  soft  water,  and  four  and  one-half  to  live 
pounds  of  fat  or  tallow ;  boil  until  the  mass  gets  transpar- 
ent and  all  the  fat  has  disappeared.  Now  add  fifteen 
gallons  of  water,  boil  a  few  minutes,  and  the  soap  will  be 
ready  for  use.  As  soon  as  cold,  it  will  be  a  perfect  jelly. 
If  still  too  thick,  add  more  water,  which  can  be  done  to 
make  the  soap  to  any  consistency  desired.  Twenty-five 
gallons  of  good  soft  soap  can  be  made  in  this  way  out  of 
one  pound  of  the  concentrated  lye. 

Pump  water  is  softened  and  made  fit  for  washing  as  fol- 
lows :  dissolve  one  cake  of  the  concentrated  lye  in  one 
gallon  of  watei\  and  keep  it  for  use  in  a  well-corked  demi- 
john or  jug.  To  a  tub  full  of  pump  or  hard  spring  water 
add  from  one-eighth  of  a  gill  to  a  pint  of  the  clear  solu- 
tion ;  the  quantity  of  course  varies  according  to  the  size 
of  the  tub,  and  the  nature  of  the  water,  some  taking  more 
and  some  less.  A  tablespoonful  will  generally  be  found 
enough  to  make  three  to  five  gallons  of  water  fit  for  wash- 
ing. In  all  the  above  operations,  it  should  be  remembered 
to  replenish  the  water  which  may  evaporate  while  dissolv- 
ing the  concentrated  lye,  or  while  boiling. 

Consult  " Salsola  kali"  for  soda  and  soda  soaps  from 
ashes;  also  "oak"  (Quereus  alba),  for  additional  information. 

To  make  twenty  pounds  of  cheap  soap  from  four  pounds. — 
The  Southern  Field  and  Fireside  directs :  four  pounds  of 
turpentine  soap,  one  half-pound  of  soda;  add  two  gallons 
water,  boil  ten  minutes,  add  a  spoonful  of  salt,  and  boil 
ten  minutes  more. 

Economy  in  the  use  of  salt. — I  insert  the  following  for  its 
utility  in  the  present  exigency  :  "  Green  wood  contains 
some  forty  per  cent,  of  its  weight  of  moisture,  which  forms 
a  watery  vapor  when  burning;  and  even  dry  wood  has 
over  forty  per  cent,  of  the  elements  of  water,  oxygen,  and 


333 

hydrogen  that  forms  vapor  when  such  wood  is  burnt.  Coal 
consists  mainly  of  the  carbon  in  wood,  which  in  burning 
forms  a  very  drying  heat.  Most  of  our  readers  are  famil- 
iar with  the  usual  process  of  barbecuing  large  pieces  of 
meat  over  coals.  If  such  meat  were  too. high  above  the 
coal  tire  to  roast,  it  would  soon  dry.  When  dry,  a  very 
little  salt  and  smoking  will  keep  it  indefinitely.  Like 
cured  bacon,  it  should  be  packed  in  tight  casks,  and  kept 
in  a  dry  room. 

"After  one  kills  his  hogs,  if  he  is  short  of  salt,  let  him 
get  the  water  out  of  the  meat  by  drying  it  over  burning 
coals  as  soon  as  possible,  first  rubbing  it  in  a  little  salt. 
Shade  trees  around  a  meat-house  are  injurious  by  creating 
dampness.  Dry  meat  with  a  coal  fire  after  it  is  smoked. 
You  may  dislike  to  have  meat  so  dry  as  is  suggested,  but 
your  own  observation  will  tell  you  that  the  dryest  hams 
generally  keep  the  best.  Certainly,  sweet,  dry  bacon  is  far 
better  than  moist,  tainted  bacon,  and  our  aim  is  simply  to 
show  how  meat  may  be  cured  and  long  kept  with  a  trifle 
of  salt,  when  war  has  rendered  the  latter  scarce  and  expen- 
sive." As  this  is  an  important  question  in  every  point  of 
view  at  present,  I  will  also  cite  on  the  manufacture  of  salt  an 
elaborate  article  in  the  P.  O.  Reports,  1855,  p.  143,  by  W. 
C.  Dennis,  of  Key  West,  Florida ;  also  P.  O.  Reports, 
1857,  p.  133.  The  mode  of  crystallizing,  etc.,  is  explained 
in  a  plain,  practical  manner,  with  wood-cuts  of  machinery. 
Evaporation  through  thorns,  wood-shavings,  etc.,  is  de- 
scribed. 

i 
Carya  olivceformis.     Pecan.     Mississippi  nut.     Cultivated 

in  Atlantic  states. 

I  have  observed  it  growing  wild  in  Ward's  swamp,  St. 
John's,  Berkley,  S.  C,  in  company  with  the  C.  myrisUcm- 
formis  or  nutmeg  hickory  of  Mx.  ISTo  doubt  the  fruit  was 
disseminated  from  neighboring  plantations,  where  it  is 
cultivated.  The  fruit  of  the  plants  of  this  order  are  favorite 
articles  for  table  use  in  the  Confederate  States.  The  pe- 
can-nut is  rich  and  nutritious,  and  the  tree  might  be  planted 


334 

as  a  source  of  profit,  as  it  is  a  rapid  bearer,  attaining  a 
large  size.  * 

Michaux  advises  that  the  shoots  should,  for  the  purposes 
of  fruiting,  be  grafted  on  stalks  of  the  common  walnut 
tree.  The  tree  abounds  in  upper  Louisiana  and  Illinois. 
A  swamp  of  800  acres  is  said  to  exist  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Ohio,  opposite  the  Cumberland  river.  The  wood  is 
coarse  grained,  heavy,  and  compact.     Michaux. 

Saururace^e. 

Saururus  Cernuus,  L.  Grows  in  inundated  soils ;  Rich- 
land;  vicinity  of  Charleston;  Newbern  ;  and  collected  in 
St.  John's,  where  the  root  is  used,  in  the  form  of  a  poultice, 
in  discussing  tumors,  and  as  an  application  in  abscess  of 
the  breasts  occurring  after  labor.  It  is  thought  by  many 
to  possess  great  value  in  this  respect.  In  a  note  to  Ell. 
Bot.,  505,  it  is  also  said  that  the.  fresh  root  is  applied  with 
advantage  as  an  emollient  and  discutient  to  inflamed  sur- 
faces. 

Salicace^e.     (The  Willow  Tribe.) 
Bark  generally  astringent,  tonic,  and  stomachic. 

Salix  nigra,  L.  Willow.  Grows  along  streams;  Rich- 
land, Gibbes ;  vicinity  of  Charleston ;  collected  in  St. 
John's  ;  Newbern.     Fl.  May. 

Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  403 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  622.  See  work  of 
younger  Michaux,  Ball,  and  Gar.  Mat.  Med.  337 ;  Mer.  and 
de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi.  185;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  583; 
Schoepf,  Mat.  Med.  43 ;  Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii.  671.  The 
willow  is  supposed  to  furnish  us  with  one  of  .the  best  sub- 
stitutes for  Peruvian  bark;  the  S.  alba,  which  may  be 
included  among  the  many  varieties  found  in  the  Confeder- 
ate States,  and  which  are  not  yet  accurately  distinguished, 
seems  to  be  held  in  high  estimation.  But  this  species  also, 
is  considered  valuable  ;  the  bark  possessing  some  power  as 
a  purgative,  anti-intermittent,  and  vermifuge.  It  also 
furnishes    the    principle    called    salicin,  which,    from   the 


335 

results  of  late  experiments,  is  found  to  be  much  less 
valuable  than  quinia,  but  is  a  good  bitter  tonic.  See  Journal 
Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  for  the  mode  of  preparation.  Bark  of 
the  root  and  branches  is  officinal.  It  is  tonic  and  some- 
what astringent.  Decoction  made  with  one  ounce  of  bark 
to  one  pint  of  boiling  water;  dose  2  fluidounces.  It 
should  be  boiled  ten  minutes,  and  strained  while  hot. 
Dose  of  salicin  from  2  to  8  grains  and  increased.  It  might 
well  attract  attention  as  a  substitute  for  quinine.  The 
large  stems  of  this  tree  are  light  and  durable,  and  are  used 
for  the  timbers  of  boats. 

There  are  several  other  species  in  the  Confederate  States. 
The  willow  —  osier  willow  (see  article  in  Farmer  and 
Planter,  Sept.,  1861),  is  cultivated  extensively  in  Germany, 
France,  and  Belgium  for  making  baskets,  hats,  screens, 
etc.,  etc.  After  most  careful  experiment  it  has  been  found 
that  the  best  species  to  introduce  into  the  Confederate 
States  for  the  purpose,  are  the  Salix  forbeyana,  Salix  purpu- 
rea, purple  willow,  and  Salix  triandra,  long-leaved  willow. 
Forbes'  loillow  is  very  productive  and  hardy,  one  of  the 
most  valuable  species  for  common  work,  where  unpeeled 
rods  are  used.     It  does  not  whiten  well. 

Purple  wilioio. — Experiments  have  shows  that  this  species 
is  the  most  valuable  and  profitable  for  osiers  in  this  country. 
With  good  ordinary  culture  its  shoots  will  average  ten  feet 
in  length  ;  will  thrive  best  in  deep,  moist  soil,  where  it  will 
easily  yield  from  four  to  live  tons  per  acre  of  the  most 
excellent  rods,  well  qualified  for  the  finest  work.  The 
purple  willow,  aside  from  being  the  most  valuable  for  man- 
ufacturing all  the  finest  kinds  of  willow-ware,  is  the  best 
species  for  hedges,  and  is  most  extensively  used  for  that 
purpose  in  Germany  and  Holland.  The  leaves  and  the 
bark  being  so  very  bitter  will  not  be  touched  by  cattle,  while 
the  shoots  may  be  formed  into  any  shape,  and  the  hedge 
thereby  made  impregnable.  Fine  hedges  or  screens  of 
twenty-five  feet  in  height  may  be  grown  from  willow  cut- 
tings of  this  species  in  five  years,  thus  affording  almost 
immediate  shelter,  so  indispensable  at  all  seasons  of  the 


336 

year.  We  have  seen,  the  writer  adds,  screens  in  Russia,  of 
the  willow,  forty  feet  high,  surrounding  parks  from  three 
to  four  hundred  acres  in  extent,  affording  the  most  perfect 
shelter  against  the  sweeping  winds  and  storms.  Its  soft, 
green,  and  glossy  foliage  will  make  it  an  object  of  great 
beauty  and  attraction. 

The  last  mentioned,  the  Salix  triandra,  long-leaved  willow, 
will  grow  with  almost  equal  vigor  in  any  soil  of  depth  ; 
ripens  its  shoots  very  early,  and  whitens  beautifully;  is 
tough  and  pliable,  and  a  general  favorite  with  our  German 
basket-makers  for  split-work.  This  willow  is  most  exten- 
sively cultivated  in  Germany  by  the  thousands  of  acres. 
Its  cultivation  is  highly  esteemed  by  the  people,  and  much 
encouraged  by  the  government. 

Salix  caprea,  though  not  valued  as  an  osier,  is  deserving 
of  attention,  as  it  will  grow  in  wet  situations  where  other 
trees  will  hardly  exist.  It  furnishes  food  for  bees  at  a  time 
when  it  is  most  needed.  In  early  spring,  before  other 
flowers  appear,  this  tree  is  a  mass  of  dazzling  bloom,  most 
eagerly  sought  after  by  bees.  This  willow  is  also  valuable 
for  hoops. 

The  cuttings,  in  our  climate,  should  be  prepared  in  fall  or 
early  winter,  and  if  planted  at  that  time  the  ends  will  form 
the  callosity  preparatory  to  sending  out  roots.  In  setting 
the  cuttings  in  the  ground  prepared  for  them,  care  should 
be  taken  to  have  them  set  deep  enough  ;  a  small  portion 
only  should  remain  above  ground ;  the  strongest  roots 
always  start  from  the  lower  end  of  the  cutting  or  set ;  by 
doing  so  the  most  vigorous  growth  will  be  obtained. 

In  establishing  a  willow  plantation,  cuttings  of  vigorous 
upland  growth,  that  have  had  an  abundance  of  room, 
should  only  be  purchased  and  used,  and,  if  obtainable, 
select  wood  of  one  year's  growth,  with  a  portion  of  two 
years  wood  from  the  lower  extremity.  Deep  soils,  free 
from  standing  water,  but  yet  so  soft  that  ploughing  is 
impracticable,  will  grow  enormous  growths  of  6'.  triandra, 
requiring  no  further  cultivation  but  keeping  the  weeds 
down  for  the  first  year  or  two,  after  which  time  the  willows 


337 

will  be  of  sufficient  strength  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and4 
provide  for  their  own  shade  and  well-being.  We  have  in, 
the  Confederate  States  large  districts  of  deep  alluvium, 
often  inclining  to  swamps,  which  are  so  much  drained  as  to- 
do  away  with  their  swampy  character,  and  with  no  other 
preparation  than  removing  the  trees,  may  make  excellent 
willow  plantations.  Sir  J.  W.  Hooker  observes:  "The 
many  important  uses  rendered  to  men  by  the  different 
species  of  willow  serve  to  rank  them  among  the  first  in  the 
list  of  our  economical  plants."  The  editor  of  the  Southern 
Farmer  and  Planter  then  quotes  a  statement  by  W.  P. 
Rupert,  of  Geneva,  N".  Y.,  showing  a  net  profit  of  $533  per 
acre  from  planting  the  osier  willow. 

See,  also,  Chaptal's  Chemistry  applied  to  Agriculture  for 
method  of  planting  willow  along  borders  of  land  -liable  to 
inundation,  to  lessen  the  force  of  the  water,  to  strengthen 
the  soil,  and  reclaim  the  land.  A  border  of  willow  and 
poplar  is  planted  over  the  banks  or  along  the  sides  of  the 
watercourses,  and  the  plants  are  cropped  at  the  tops  so  as 
to  increase  the  thickness  of  their  growth. 

In  a  paper  in  Patent  Office  Reports  on  Agriculture,  p.  46, 
1851,  by  W.  G.  Haynes,  of  Putnam  county,  1ST.  Y.,  it  is 
stated  that  four  or  five  million  dollars  worth  of  willow 
were  imported  annually  into  the  United  States  from  France 
and  Germany.  The  prices  ranged  from  $1  to  $1  30  per  ton 
weight.  The  writer  coufines  his  attention  to  the  "three 
kinds  best  adapted  for  basket-making,  farming,  tanning, 
and  fencing."  He  says:  "The  Salix  viminalis  is  that  speci- 
men of  all  others  best  adapted  for  basket-makers.  An  acre 
of  this  properly  planted,  and  cultivated  upon  suitable  soil, 
will  yield  at  least  two  tons  weight  per  year."  See  paper 
for  yield.  The  people  of  England,  till  1808,  relied  entirely 
for  their  supply  upon  Continental  Europe.  The  Salix  alba, 
or  Bedford  willow,  is  much  planted  by  the  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford. "The  bark  is  held  in  high  estimation  for  tanning, 
the  wood  for  shoemakers'  lasts,  boot-trees,  cutting-boards, 
gun  and  pistol  stocks,  and  house  timber;  the  wood  being 
fine  grained,  and  susceptible  of  as  fine  a  polish  as  rose- 
22 


338 

wood  or  mahogany.  An  acre  of  this  kind  of  wood,  ten 
years  old,  has  sold  in  England  for  ,£155."  The  " Salix  alba 
is  extensively  used  by  retired  tradesmen  who  build  in  the 
country  for  the  purpose  of  securing  shade  in  a  short  time, 
and  by  the  nobility  around  their  fish-ponds  and  mill-dams, 
and  along  their  watercourses  and  avenues.  This  is  the 
principal  wood  used  in  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder  in 
England."  See,  also,  article  "Hempi"  It  requires  twelve 
thousand  cuttings  to  plant  one  acre.  Much  land  worth  for 
little  else  might  be  planted  in  willow. 

The  next  species  is  the  &  caprea,  Huntingdon  willow, 
"which  is  a  good  basket  willow,  and  is  used  extensively  in 
England  by  the  farmers  for  hoop-poles  and  fencing.  Their 
manner  of  planting  when  for  fencing  is  by  placing  the 
ends  of  the  cuttings  in  the  ground,  and  then  working 
them  into  a  kind  of  trellis-work,  and  passing  a  willow 
withe  around  the  tops  or  ends,  so  as  to  keep  in  shape  for 
the  first  two  years.  They  cut  the  tops  off  yearly,  and  sell 
them  to  the  basket-makers,  thus  having  a  fence  and  crop 
from  the  same  ground."  Another  description  of  fence  is 
also  made  from  the  Salix  caprea,  "  known  in  England  by 
the  name  of  hurdle  fences,  which  may  be  removed  at  the 
pleasure  or  discretion  of  the  proprietor."  See  article 
"Charcoal,"  in  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  The  dogwood  and 
alder  are  also  used  for  making  gunpowder.  See,  #also, 
Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts.  In  most  of  the  large  manufac- 
tories the  charcoal  is  distilled  from  iron  vessels,  by  which 
means  it  is  obtained  in  a  state  of  considerable  purity,  and 
the  other  products  are  saved.     See  " Pinus." 

A  variety  of  the  S.  viminalis,  called  the  velvet  osier,  is 
the  very  best  for  basket-making.  In  England,  Wilson 
says,  an  acre  of  osier  will  yield  greater  profit  than  one  of 
wheat.  The  Salix  purpurea,  as  was  stated,  is  also  valuable. 
"The  cutting  of  a  basket  twig  should  be  made  slopingly 
within  three  buds  of  the  point  whence  the  shoot  issued ; 
and  the  cutting  of  a  hoop  willow  may  be  made  so  low  as 
to  leave  only  the  swell  at  the  bottom  of  the  shoot.  Basket 
twigs  are  commonly  sorted  into  three  sizes,  and  tied  into 


339 

bundles  of  each  two  feet  in  circumference  :  and  when  they 
are  to  be  peeled,  they  are  set  on  their  thick  end,  a  few 
inches  deep  in  standing  water,  and  left  there  till  com- 
monly the  latter  part  of  the  following  May.  The  apparatus 
for  peeling  is  simply  two  round  rods  of  iron,  nearly  half  an 
inch  thick,  sixteen  inches  long,  and  tapering  a  little  up- 
ward, welded  together  a  little  at  one  end,  which  is  sharp- 
ened, so  that  it  may  be  easily  thrust  down  into  the  ground. 
When  thus  placed  in  a  piece  of  firm  ground,  the  peeler  sits 
down  opposite  to  it,  and  takes  the  willow  in  the  right  hand 
by  the  small  end,  and  puts  a  foot  or  more  of  the  great  end 
into  the  instrument,  the  prongs  of  which  he  presses  to- 
gether with  the  left  hand,  and  with  the  right  draws  the 
willow  toward  him,  by  which  operation  the  bark  will  at 
once  be  separated  from  the  wood;  the  small  end  is  then 
treated  in  the  same  manner,  and  the  peeling  is  completed. 
After  being  peeled  they  will  keep  in  a  good  condition  for  a 
long  time,  till  a  proper  market  be  found.     Rural  Cyc. 

Charcoal  made  of  willow  or  oak  is  a  useful  antiseptic 
agent,  possessing  the  power  of  absorbing  gases,  and  useful 
in  dyspepsia  and  ill-conditioned  states  of  the  gastrointes- 
tinal mucous  membranes.  It  is  also  used  as  a  mechanical 
laxative,  in  doses  of  ten  to  fifteen  grains.  It  is  supposed 
to  act  as  a  prophylactic  in  yellow  fever.  In  preparing  it, 
the  common  charcoal  from  green  wood  is  reduced  to  pow- 
der. This  is  reheated  and  burned  to  ignition  in  a.  tightly 
covered  vessel.  It  is  then  kept  for  use  in  closely  stopped 
bottles,  as  it  will  absorb  moisture  and  gases  from  the 
atmosphere.  It  is  used  also  as  a  general  purifyer.  Brack- 
ish water  strained  through  a  layer  of  sand  and  powdered 
charcoal  is  made  sweet  and  pure. 

For  making  gunpowder  charcoal,  the  lighter  woods,  such 
as  the  willow,  dogwood,  and  alder  answer  best;  and  in  their 
carbonization  care  should  be  taken  to  let  the  vapors  freely 
escape,  especially  toward  the  end  of  the  operation,  for 
when  they  are  reabsorbed,  they  greatly  impair  the  com- 
bustibility of  the  charcoal.  The  charcoal  of  some  wood 
contains  silica,  and  is  therefore  useful  for  polishing  metals. 


340 

Dr.  Mushet  published  the  following  table  of  the  quantity 
of  charcoal  yielded  by  different  woods : 

Chestnut 23.2  of  charcoal — glossy  black,  compact,  firm. 

Oak 22.6  black,  close,  very  firm. 

Walnut 20.6  dull  black,  close,  firm. 

Holly 19.9  dull  black,  loose,  and  bulky. 

Beech 19.9  dull  black,  spongy,  firm. 

Sycamore 19.7  fine  black,  bulky,  moderately  firm. 

Elm 19.5  fine  black,  moderately  firm. 

Norway  pine 19.2  shining  black,  bulky,  very  soft. 

Sallow  or  willow.  .18.4  velvet  black,  bulky,  loose,  soft. 

Ash 17.9  shining  black,  spongy,  firm. 

Birch 1 7.4  velvet  black,  bulky,  firm.     [_Am.  Farmer's  Enc. 

On  the  subject  of  Nitre,  and  the  materials  for  gunpow- 
der, I  will  introduce  the  following  from  Chaptal's  Chemis- 
try applied  to  Agriculture,  p.  153,  and  may  reproduce 
portions  or  all  of  Prof.  Leconte's  paper  on  nitre  beds. 
Different  kinds  of  wood,  he  says,  yield  coal  of  very  differ- 
ent quality;  the  best  coal  is  heavy  and  sonorous,  and  is 
produced  from  wood  of  very  compact  fibre.  The  heat  it 
affords  is  quick  and  strong,  and  its  combustion,  though 
vigorous,  lasts  a  long  time.  The  charcoal  of  the  green 
oak  of  the  South  burns  at  least  twice  as  long  as  that  of 
the  white  oak  of  the  North,  and  the  effects  produced  by 
the  heat  it  affords  are  great  in  the  same  proportion. 

The  light,  porous,  white  woods  afford  a  brittle,  spongy 
coal,  of  less  weight,  and  which  may  be  easily  reduced 
to  powder;  this  coal  consumes  quickly  in  our  fireplaces, 
but  is  useful  for  some  purposes,  particularly  in  the  manu- 
facture of  gunpowder,  for  which  use  it  is  prepared  by  the 
following  process :  a  ditch  of  five  or  six  feet  square  and 
of  about  four  in  depth  is  dug  in  a  dry  soil;  the  ditch 
is  heated  by  means  of  a  fire  made  of  split  wood;  the  shoots 
and  leaves  are  stripped  from  the  young  branches  of  elders, 
poplars,  hazels,  and  willows,  of  which  the  coal  is  to  be 
made,  and  as  soon  as  the  ditch  is  sufficiently  heated  the 
branches  are  thrown  gradually  in ;  when  carbonization  is 
at  its  height  the  pit  is  covered  over  with  wet  woollen  cloths. 
This  charcoal  is  more  light  and  inflammable  than  that  of 


341 

the  denser  woods,  and  is  susceptible  of  being  more  easily- 
arid  completely  pulverized.  M.  Proust,  who  has  made 
numerous  experiments  to  ascertain  the  kinds  of  plants 
which  furnish  the  best  coal  for  powder,  found  that  pro- 
cured from  the  stalk  of  hemp  to  be  preferable  to  any  other. 

The  most  perfect  process  of  carbonization  is  by  means  of 
a  close  apparatus:  for  this  purpose  a  stone  or  brick  building 
is  constructed,  of  eighteen  to  twenty-five  feet  square;  this 
is  matted  over,  and  the  inside  of  it  lined  with  a  brick  wall  ; 
through  the  extent  of  it  cast-iron  cylinders  are  laid  in  such 
a  manner  that  one  of  the  two  ends  shall  have  an  external 
communication,  while  the  other  carries  the  smoke  into 
one  of  the  chimneys.  As  soon  as  the  building  is  filled 
with  the  wood  for  carbonization  the  cylinders  may  be 
heated.  The  vapor  which  is  distilled  from  the  wood  is 
received  into  sheet-iron  pipes,  placed  in  the  top,  which 
convey  it  into  tubs  where  it  is  condensed.  Count  Chaptal 
esteems  this  to  be  the  best  and  most  economical  apparatus 
for  making  charcoal ;  besides,  it  allows  the  preservation  of 
the  pyroligneous  acid,  which  brings  a  good  price,  and  may 
also  be  purified  and  converted  into  vinegar. 

In  England  charcoal  is  prepared  in  two  different  wTays. 
In  one,  billets  of  wood  are  formed  into  a  heap,  which  is 
covered  with  turf,  and  a  few  small  openings  only  left  for 
the  admission  of  the  air  requisite  to  maintain  it  in  a  state 
of  low  combustion  after  it  is  lighted.  When  the  whole 
heap  is  on  fire,  the  holes  are  stopped,  and  after  the  mass 
has  cooled  the  residue  is  charcoal.  This  is  substantially 
the  method  adopted  on  our  plantations.  In  the  other 
mode,  the  wood  is  distilled  in  iron  cylinders,  in  which  case 
the  products  are  pyroligneous  acids,  and  empyreumatic  oil ; 
and  what  remains  in  the  retort  is  charcoal.  The  quantity 
of  the  distilled  products,  as  well  as  of  the  charcoal,  de- 
pends on  the  kind  of  wood  employed.  One  hundred  parts 
of  dried  oak  yields  of  pyroligneous  acid,  43.  parts  ;  carbon- 
ate of  potassa,  4.5  parts;  empyreumatic  oil,  9.06  parts; 
charcoal,  26.2"  parts.  Farmer's  Encyc.  See  also  "Quercus" 
and  "  Pinus,"  in  this  volume. 


342 

The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  the  papers  dur- 
ing the  year  1862  : 

To  Contractors. —  Willow  wood  wanted. — Five  hundred 
cords  willow  will  be  contracted  for,  to  be  delivered  on  the 
line  of  the  canal,  at  the  government  powder  factory,  at 
Augusta,  Gra.,  at  the  rate  of  not  less  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  cords  per  month,  commencing  the  1st  of  December 
next.  The  willow  may  be  of  any  size,  the  smaller  branches 
being  preferred;  the  larger  sticks  must  be  split  into  parts 
not  larger  than  the  arm.  It  must  be  cut  into  uniform 
lengths  of  three  feet,  and  each  cord  will  measure  fourteen 
feet  long,  three  feet  high,  and  three  feet  broad,  containing 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  cubic  feet.  The  bark  must  be 
carefully  peeled  off  at  the  time  of  cutting. 

Purification  of  water  by  charcoal. — The  reader  is  referred 
to  Chaptal's  "Chemistry  applied  to  Agriculture"  for  much 
that  is  practical  in  the  domestic  economy  of  our  planta- 
tions in  the  South  on  the  manufacture  of  wine,  brandy, 
etc.  In  his  chapter  on  the  "means  of  preparing  whole- 
some drinks  for  the  use  of  country  people"  he  gives  the 
following  method  for  rendering  impure  water  pure.  It 
would  be  found  of  great  service  at  the  present  time,  and 
our  generals  in  the  field  might  thus,  at  little  cost,  purify 
water  for  the  use  of  their  camps,  for  want  of  which  simple 
expedient  moves,  possibly  disastrous,  have  often  to  be  made 
in  face  of  an  enemy.  "The  water  made  use  of  is  often 
muddy,  or  has  a  bad  smell,  either  of  which  faults  may  be 
corrected  by  filtering  it  through  charcoal ;  the  process 
may  be  performed  in  the  following  manner:  place  a  large 
cask  upright,  in  the  coolest  situation  you  can  command, 
knock  out  the  head,  and  form  in  the  bottom  of  it  a  bed  of 
clean  sand  upon  which  place  one  of  charcoal,  and  above 
these  fasten  securely  a  double  head  pierced  with  holes. 
When  this  is  done  the  cask  may  be  immediately  filled 
with  the  water  which  is  to  be  purified.  The  filtrated  fluid 
may  be  drawn  off  by  means  of  a  stop  cock  placed  at  the 
bottom  of  the  bed  of  sand;  it  will  be  found  to  have  be- 
come clear  and  inodorous  in  its  passage  through  the  sand 


343 

and  charcoal.  The  preservation  of  this  apparatus  requires 
but  little  care;  when  the  charcoal  ceases  to  produce  the 
desired  effect  it  must  be  either  well  washed  or  replaced  by 
a  new  portion."  This  plan  can  be  put  in  practice  by  any 
one,  and  at  any  time. 

Salix  Babilonica.  Weeping  willow^.  Completely  natural- 
ized in  South  Carolina. 

It  forms  one  of  our  most  beautiful  and  graceful  orna- 
mental trees.  Only  the  pistillate  plant  is  found  here  ;  and 
hence  it  does  not  mature  its  fruit  as  the  others  do. 

Populus  alba.     White  poplar.     Introduced. 

This  is  an  aquatic  plant,  yet  will  grow  on  dry  soils.  It 
is  easily  propagated  by  suckers,  grows  rapidly,  is  very  tena- 
cious of  life,  and  is  one  of  the  trees  planted  to  prevent  the 
encroachment  of  the  sea  or  rivers,  by  being  planted  with 
willows  on  the  margin.     See  Salix. 

The  poplar  has  a  very  white,  light  wood,  very  suitable 
for  flooring ;  also  eminently  suited,  on  account  of  its  light- 
ness, for  the  manufacture  of  trays,  bowls,  etc.  "It  is  excel- 
lently adapted  for  the  purposes  of  the  bellows-maker,  and 
of  the  manufacturer  of  wooden  soles  of  shoes ;  as  good  for 
light  carts ;  as  excellent  for  laths  and  packing-cases ;  as 
very  superior  for  wooden  constructions  under  water ;  and 
in  fact  as  available  for  an  almost  innumerable  variety  of 
purposes,  from  the  mean  ones  of  fuel  and  poles  to  the 
noble  ones  of  tools  and  furniture.  Pontey  even  asserts  it 
to  be  perfectly  suitable  for  almost  every  article  usually 
made  of  mahogany,  and  quite  capable  of  being  stained 
and  doctored  into  a  very  close  imitation  of  that  valuable 
wood."  Wilson.  The  wood  of  our  wild,  tulip-bearing 
poplar  (Liriodendron)  is  adapted  to  similar  purposes,  being 
light,  and  easily  worked,  and  used  by  the  cabinet-maker 
for  many  purposes.  It  is  stated  in  the  Farmer's  En- 
cyclopaedia that  by  splitting  the  wood  of  the  white  pop- 
lar into  thin  shavings  like  tape  or  braid,  the  stuff  called 
sparterfe,  used  for  hats,  is  manufactured.     These  shavings 


344 

are  always  made  from  green  wood.  One  workman  can, 
with  the  aid  of  a  child  to  carry  off  the  shavings,  keep 
several  plaiters  employed.  This  might  be  made  a  source 
of  successful  industry  in  the  Confederate  States. 

Upon  examining  the  excrescences  caused  by  an  insect  in 
large  numbers  on  the  leaves  of  the  cotton-wood  tree  (P. 
heterophylla,  L.),  I  find  them  possessed  of  .great  bitterness, 
and  suggest  an  examination  into  their  tonic  properties. 

Balsamaceje. 

Liquidambar  styraciflua,  L.  Sweet-gum.  Diffused.  Fl. 
March. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  273 ;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  184 ; 
Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  303 ;  Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm. 
vi,  190 ;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  562  ;  Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  798 ; 
Linn.  Veg.  M.  Med.  In  former  times  the  resin  was  used 
in  scabies ;  and  it  is  said  (Am.  Herbal,  by  J.  Stearns)  to  be 
useful  in  resolving  hard  tumors  in  the  uterus.  The  In- 
dians esteemed  it  an  excellent  febrifuge,  and  employed  it 
in  healing  wounds.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv, 
128,  and  the  Supplem.  1846 ;  Ann.  de  Montpellier,  1805, 
327;  Journal  de  Pharm.  vii,  339,  and  vii,  568;  Bull,  de 
Therap.,  Oct.  1833,  where  D.  L'Heritier  proposes  to  treat 
blennorrhagias  and  leucorrhceas  with  liquid  styrax.  A 
kind  of  oil,  called  copalm,  is  extracted  from  it  in  Mexico, 
which,  when  solidified,  is  called  copalm  resin ;  this  is  an 
excitant  of  the  mucous  system,  and  it  is  given  in  chronic 
catarrhs,  and  in  affections  of  the  lungs,  intestines,  and 
urinary  passages.  This  is  cordial  and  stomachic ;  it  excites 
both  perspiration  and  urine;  it  is  also  used  in  perfumery. 
In  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  the  temperature  is  not  high 
enough  for  this  tree  to  furnish  much  gum.  Dr.  Griffith 
experimented  with  it  in  the  latitude  of  Baltimore,  and  ob- 
tained a  small  quantity  by  boiling  the  twigs  and  branches ; 
he  found  that  it  exists  in  greatest  abundance  in  the  young 
trees  just  before  the  appearance  of  the  leaves.  It  is  about 
the  consistence  of  honey,  of  a  yellow  color,  and  of  a  pleas- 
ant, balsamic  odor  and  taste.     The  tree  is  of  rapid  growth, 


345 

and  is  ornamental — frequently  assuming  the  appearance  of 
a  sugar-loaf.  The  wood  is  soft,  but  not  durable.  A  decoc- 
tion of  the  inner  bark  of  the  gum  in  a  quart  of  milk,  or  a 
tea  made  with  boiling  water  is  one  of  the  most  valuable 
and  useful  mucilaginous  astringents  that  we  possess  (Dr. 
Richard  Moore).  It  can  be  employed  with  advantage  in 
cases  of  diarrhoea  and  dysentery.  I  have  discovered  that 
the  leaves  also  of  the  gum,  as  well  as  those  of  the  myrtle, 
are  exceedingly  rich  in  tannin,  and  would  advise  them  to 
be  used  while  green  as  a  substitute  for  oak  bark.  They 
can  always  be  obtained  in  the  greatest  abundance.  As  the 
result  of  my  comparative  experiments,  these,  with  the  leaves 
of  the  sumach,  possessed  more  tannin  than  any  other  leaf. 
See  "  Tannin.'''  The  chinquapin,  given  with  milk,  is  a  use- 
ful astringent;  see,  also,  blackberry  (Rubus)  and  dogwood 
{Cornus).  The  gum  of  the  sweet-gum,  mixed  with  suet,  is 
used  by  the  vegetable  practitioners  in  the  treatment  of  itch. 

Leaves  of  native  trees  for  Tanning  Leather  recommended  in 
place  of  Oak  bark. — Compelled  by  sickness  to  make  a  tem- 
porary sojourn  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  S.  C,  during  the 
months  of  October  and  November,  1861,  I  had  the  leisure 
to  make  some  experiments  upon  the  relative  amount  of  the 
astringent  principles  in  the  leaves  of  several  of  our  most 
abundant  native  trees.  The  reputed  power  of  the  dogfen- 
nel  and  other  plants  for  the  rapid  tanning  of  leather  attract- 
ed my  attention  to  the  subject.  I  publish  the  following, 
that  the  green  leaves  may  be  collected  and  used  before  they 
fall.  They  can  be  much  more  readily  obtained  than  oak 
bark.  I  made  two  series  of  experiments,  with  a  solution  of 
each  leaf  in  boiling  water,  in  separate  test-glasses.  After 
they  had  remained  a  sufficient  time  for  the  coloring  matters 
and  the  astringent  principles  to  be  extracted,  I  subjected 
each  to  the  appropriate  reagents.  Solutions  of  iron  as  well 
as  gelatine  were  employed,  which  responded  perfectly,  and 
gave  delicate  shades  of  difference.  The  leaf,  well  chewed 
and  tasted,  also  gives  a  very  good  idea  of  its  astringency, 
and  consequently  affords  an  approximation  to  the  tannin 


346 

and  gallic  acid  it  contains.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  leaves  of 
the  sumach,  sweet-gum,  myrtle,  blackberry,  Cleihra  tomen- 
tosa  and  Andromeda  nitida  (both  abundant  in  our  damp  pine 
barrens,  along  the  margin  of  ponds),  and  the  fruit  of  the 
unripe  persimmon,  contain  the  largest  amounts  of  tannin, 
and  perhaps  gallic  acid. 

I  took  special  care  to  select  trees,  for  the  most  part,  which 
grew  plentifully,  and  I  particularly  recommend  those  just 
mentioned  to  be  used  in  lieu  of  oak  bark  for  tanning 
leather,  on  account  of  their  abundance  and  the  ease  with 
which  the  fresh  leaves  can  be  gathered,  and  because  of  the 
scarcity  of  the  oak,  and  the  injury  to  these  raluable  timber 
trees.  If  the  oak  is  deprived  of  its  bark  the  wood  should 
always  be  converted  into  ashes. 

Strange  to  say,  the  clogfennel  (JSupaiorium  fceniculaceum?) 
occupied  a  very  inferior  position  as  a  tanniniferous  plant. 

FIRST    SERIES. 

(Relative  amount  of  Astringency  expressed  by  numerals.) 

1.   Clethra  alnifolia,  L.     (G.  lomenlosa,  Lam.)     Diffused  in 
damp  pine  lands. 
1.  Andromeda  nitida. 

1.  Fruit  of  unripe  Persimmon  (Diospyros  Virginiana) ; 
color  of  solution,  bluish  black. 

2.  Sweet-Gum  (Liquldambar  styraciflua). 
2^.  Swamp  Myrtle  (Myrica  eerifera). 

3.  Sweet  Swamp  Bay,  or  Laurel  (Magnolia,  glauca).  All 
the  above  rich  in  tannin. 

4.  Oak  Leaves,  Black  Jack  (Quercus  nigra,  L.) 

5.  Leaves  of  Persimmon. 

6.  Sassafras  (Laurus  Sassafras),  a  trace. 

7.  Prinos  Glaber  (ink-berry).     Tannin  not  very  evident. 

SECOND    SERIES. 

1.  Sumach  (Rhus  copallina  L.  and  R.  Glabra. 

2.  Blackberry  (Rubus  villosus  and  trivialis),  both  very  rich 
in  tannin. 

3.  Sweet  leaf  (Hopea  tinctoria),  tannin  slightly  present. 


347 

4.  Dogfennel.  (Eajpatorium  fceniculaceum),  a  trace. 

5.  Sassafras,  a  trace. 

6.  Gall  of  the  earth  (Prenanth.es  alba),  very  bitter  ;  tannin, 
none. 

Both  the  leaves  and  the  excrescences  on  the  leaves  of  the 
smooth  Sumach  (Rhus  glabra),  growing  along  streams  in 
the  upper  districts,  are  very  rich  in  tannin,  and  should  be 
used. 

The  Alder  (Alnus  serrulata),  abundant  along  watercours- 
es, is  also  astringent.  The  reader  can  find  a  list  of  the 
plants  and  trees  yielding  tannin  in  lire's  "Dictionary  of 
Arts,  Manufacture,  and  Mines."  See  also  Oak  ("  Quercus") 
and  Sumach  ("Rhus"),  in  this  volume. 

CALLITRICHACEyE. 

Callitriche  verna,  "W.  1    Water  chickweed.     Grows 

"        heterophylla,~E[\.  Sk..  /in  shallow  water.    Collected 
in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  May. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  326.  It  is  considered  by  the  planters 
a  valuable  diuretic  remedy  in  dropsy.  The  tincture  of  the 
whole  plant  in  spirits  is  employed.  A  decoction  is  given 
to  horses  when  diuresis  is  desired. 

Santalales. 

Nyssa  aquatica,Jj.  Black-gum;  tupelo;  sour-gum.  The 
roots  are  immersed  in  inundated  soils;  collected  in  St. 
John's;  observed  in  Fairfield  district;  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton ;  Newbern. 

The  roots  are  white,  spongy,  and  light,  and  are  sometimes 
used  in  the  Confederate  States  as  a  substitute  for  cork. 

The  genus  exhibits  a  constant  peculiarity  of  organization 
("the  fibres  are  united  in  bundles  and  interwoven  like  a 
braided  cord"),  hence  the  wood  is  extremely  difficult  to  split, 
unless  cut  into  billets — much  used  for  hubs  of  wheels ;  also 
preferred  for  the  sideboards  of  carts.  Am.  Sylva.  Trays, 
bowls,  dippers,  mortars,  and  other  utensils  are  manufactured 
from  it.     I  had  recommended  it  as  a  suitable  material  for 


348 

shoes  in  my  article  in  DeBow's  Review,  August,  1861,  and 
have  since  had  a  number  made  from  the  wood  of  the  roots 
for  negroes  residing  on  plantations  in  South  Carolina.  A 
friend  from  St.  Paul's  parish  recommends  that  only  the  sole 
of  the  shoe  be  made  of  wood,  an  inch  in  thickness,  cowskin, 
with  the  hair  turned  inside,  being  nailed  on  this  over  a  last. 
To  make  the  back  of  the  shoe  of  wood  also,  gives  pain  to 
the  wearer.  The  wood  should  be  well  seasoned,  or  it  will 
crack ;  boiling  will  prevent  this  if  the  fresh  wood  is  used. 
Very  neat  and  well  fashioned  shoes,  I  am  told,  have  been 
manufactured  by  gentlemen  in  Abbeville  and  other  dis- 
tricts of  South  Carolina  out  of  this  wood.  In  the  Charles- 
ton Courier,  October,  1861,  it  is  advised  that  when  the 
black-gum  is  used  as  a  substitute  for  leather,  "for  complete 
protection  against  moisture,  a  slip  or  inner  sole  and  lining 
of  any  water-proof  material  may  be  added." 

I  introduce  the  following  from  the  "Farmer  and  Planter," 
as  not  inappropriate.  Every  one. who  has  visited  Europe 
has  seen  the  sabot  worn  by  the  peasantry: 

A  good  thing  for  our  negroes. — It  cannot  be  denied  that  a 
number  of  diseases  must  result  from  the  wearing  of  leather 
shoes  by  our  negroes,  when  engaged  in  out-door  operations 
during  cold  weather,  or  in  wet  situations.  In  Germany, 
Belgium,  and  France,  in  order  to  prevent  those  evils,  at 
least  to  some  extent,  the  use  of  wooden  shoes  has  long  since 
been  introduced,  and  they  are  extensively  worn  by  the 
whole  farming  and  laboring  population. 

The  governments  of  Europe  have  very  much  encouraged 
the  manufacture  of  the  same,  and  their  preference  over 
leather  shoes  is  much  recommended  by  all  boards  of  agri- 
culture and  of  health.  There  is  hardly  an  operation  on 
the  farm  and  about  the  farm-houses,  the  garden,  etc.,  in 
which  they  could  not  be  most  profitably  used.  They  are 
perfectly  secure  against  the  penetration  of  water,  and  being 
always  dry,  will  keep  the  feet  warm,  and  thereby  prevent 
many  diseases.  They  are  light  and  easy  to  wear,  of  a 
pleasant  appearance,  may  be  blackened  or  varnished. 
They  can  be  worn  with  or  without  stockings;  and,  with 


349 

many  other  advantages,  they  combine  such  durability  as 
to  last  almost  a  lifetime,  at  a  cost  of  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty-seven  cents. 

They  are  certainly  entitled  to  the  attention  of  the  farm- 
ing and  laboring  population  of  the  South.  The  wood  for 
their  manufacture  is  to  be  had  in  great  abundance  in  most 
of  our  Southern  states. 

The  following,  addressed  to  the  editors  of  the  Charleston 
Courier,  is  on  the  same  subject: 

Shoes  without  leather. — I  saw  the  last  autumn,  at  the  store 
of  Messrs.  Howes,  Hyatt  &  Co.,  shoe  and  leather  dealers, 
in  the  City  of  New  York,  a  plantation  brogan,  differing  from 
the  old  shoe,  in  having  soles  of  some  light,  tough  wood — 
the  root  of  the  swamp  poplar,  1  think.  The  proprietors 
told  me  that  they  had  patented  the  invention  a  year  or  two 
previous,  and  would  warrant  the  brogan  to  outlast  the  best 
of  the  leather-soled.  They  said  that  they  had  large  orders 
from  planters  on  the  Mississippi,  who  had  tried  them,  and 
found  that  they  were  warmer,  more  durable,  and  more  im- 
pervious to  water  than  the  leather-soled.  The  soles  were 
made  by  machinery.  The  upper  leather  was  first  securely 
tacked  to  the  inner  sole,  and  the  under  sole  securely  fasten- 
ed to  the  upper  by  about  one  dozen  iron  screws,  securing 
the  upper  leather  between  the  two  soles. 

With  soles  of  wood  and  uppers  of  canvas  we  can  be  in- 
dependent of  leather  in  the  present  scarcity  of  that  article 
in  our  Confederacy. 

Mr.  W.  Gilmore  Simms  suggests  to  me  the  use  of  the 
tupelo,  on  account  of  its  lightness,  for  making  cartridge- 
boxes. 

Birds  are  fond  of  the  fruit  of  this  genus. 

ThymelacEjE.     (The  Mezereum  Tribe.) 

According  to  Lindley,  the  great  feature  of  this  tribe  is 
the  causticity  of  the  bark,  which  acts  upon  the  skin  as  a 
vesicatory,  and  causes  excessive  pain  in  the  mouth  when 
chewed. 


350 

Dirca palastris,  L.  Canada leatherwood.  Diffused;  grows 
near  Augusta  at  Colleton's  Neck  (Ell.);  Bartram  found  it 
near  Savannah.     PI.  Feb. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  659 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  1253 ; 
Coxe's  Am.  Disp.  259;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  513;  Big.  Am. 
Med.  Bot.  ii,  157;  Barton's  Collec.  32;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot. 
563 ;  Raf.  Med.  Fl.  i,  158.  The  berries  are  said  to  be  nar- 
cotic and  poisonous,  and  the  bark  has  a  nauseous  odor  and 
acrid  taste,  yielding  its  virtues  to  alcohol;  eight  grains  of 
the  powdered  bark  will  produce  violent  vomiting,  followed 
by  purging.  When  applied  to  the  skin,  it  blisters  like 
mezereon.  The  juice  has  been  applied  to  the  nerve  of  a 
painful  tooth  with  relief,  and  in  diseases  where  acrid  masti- 
catories  are  serviceable.  Bigelow  says  the  decoction  is 
sudorific  and  expectorant,  and  he  considers  it  a  good  sub- 
stitute for  senega.  The  bark  is  also  uncommonly  tough, 
and  was  used  by  the  Indians  for  cordage;  the  wood  is  very 
hard  and  pliant. 

Its  twigs  are  remarkable  for  toughness,  are  as  strong 
and  pliable  as  those  of  the  lime  tree,  and  are  employed  in 
America  for  the  manufacture  of  various  small  articles.  Its 
bark,  also,  has  a  homogeneous  character  with  the  twigs,  and 
is  used  for  making  ropes  and  baskets;  and  both,  but  espe- 
cially the  twigs,  occasion  the  plant  to  be  popularly  called  in 
Canada  leatherwood.  This  plant  is  an  excessive  favorite 
with  snails !     Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. 

Laurace^;.     [The  Cinnamon   Tribe.) 
The  qualities  of  the  species  of  this  order  are  uniform, 
being  universally  aromatic,  warm,  and  stomachic. 

Sassafras  officinale,  Nees.        1    Sassafras.     Diffused  in  up- 
Laurus  sassafras  of  Ell.  Sk.  /  per  and  lower  country ;  Va. 

Fl.  March. 

Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  411;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  320;  Dray- 
ton's View,  68;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  341;  IT.  S.  Disp. 
640;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  518;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii, 
253;  Cullen's  Mat.  Med.  ii,  200  and  579;  Big.  Am.  Med. 


351 

Bot.  ii,  142;  Murray's  Apparat.  iv,  835;  Kalm's  Travels, 
11;  Hoffman's  Obs.  Phys.  Chem.  31;  Clayton's  Phil.  Trans, 
viii,  332;  Bremaine,  "Sassafralogia,"  in  1627;  Woodv. 
Med.  Bot.;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  552;  Thornton's  Farn.  Herb. 
The  plant  contains  an  essential  oil,  obtained  by  distillation, 
which  is  heating,  sudorific,  and  diuretic,  and  which  is  used 
to  disguise  the  taste  of  medicines.  In  the  Supplem.  to 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  426,  1846,  it  is  reported  that  the  essential 
oil,  when  placed  in  a  temperature  of  40°  Fahr.,  will  form 
crystals,  which,  being  exposed  to  heat,  return  to  pure  oil: 
from  the  Report  in  the  Lond.  Med.  Journal  vii,  2501,  831; 
Researches  on  the  Ess.  Oil  of  Sassafras,  in  the  Comptes 
Rendus  Hebd.  des  Sc.  de  l'Acad.  des  Sc.  xviii,  705.  After 
the  conquest  made  by  the  Spaniards  in  Florida  sassafras  was 
used  in  the  treatment  of  syphilis,  the  warm  infusion  being 
applicable  in  cutaneous  disease,  by  acting  on  the  emuncto- 
ries.  The  root  is  employed  in  this  state,  in  combination 
with  guaiac,  sarsaparilla,  and  China  briar  {Smilax),  in  the 
formation  of  diet  drinks.  It  is  diaphoretic  and  diuretic, 
useful  in  rheumatism,  and  Alibert  speaks  highly  of  it  in 
gout.  The  pith  of  the  young  branches,  according  to  Eberle, 
contains  a  great  deal  of  mucilage;  which  is  "an  exceedingly 
good  application  in  acute  ophthalmia,  and  no  less  useful  in 
catarrhal  and  dysenteric  affections;"  it  is  not  affected  by 
alcohol;  Griffith  (Med.  Bot.  552)  also  speaks  favorably  of  it 
as  an  application  to  inflamed  eyes,  being  effectual  in  the  re- 
moval of  the  irritation  so  constant  in  this  complaint.  It  is 
advantageously  given  as  a  demulcent  drink  in  disorders  of 
the  respiratory  organs,  bowels,  and  bladder;  being  more 
efficacious  than  that  prepared  from  the  leaves  of  Bent  (Sesa- 
mum  Indicum).  It  might  be  used  as  a  substitute  for  acacia. 
The  oil  extracted  from  this  plant  is  one  of  the  heaviest  of 
the  volatile  oils.  Dr.  B.  S.  Barton  states  that  it  has  been 
found  an  efficacious  application  to  wens.  Coll.  i,  19.  G. 
Velsch,  "Lignum  sassafras  et  radice  diversum,"  Miscel. 
Cur.  Nat.  332,  1670;  C.  J.  Trew,  Brevis  Hist.  Nat;  Arboris 
Sassafras  dicta?  (Nova  acta  Acad.  Nat.  Cur.  ii,  271);  G.  D. 
Ebret  de  Arboribus  Sassafras  dictis  et  Londini  cultis  (Nova 


352 

acta  ii,  236);  Obs.  on  the  Sassafras,  in  Obs.  sur  la  Physique, 
xxiv,  63;  Bonastre,  Mem.  sur  l'Huile  volatile  do  Sass. 
(Journal  de  Pharm.  xiv.  645.)  And,  also,  A.  Buchner  upon 
the  Crystallization  of  the  Oil  of  Sassafras. 

The  roots  yield  a  drab  color  with  copperas;  no  doubt  a 
much  lighter  shade  may  be  obtained  by  alum  or  vinegar  as 
a  mordant.  I  believe  that  any  of  our  plants  containing 
either  tanning  or  colored  juices  may  be  used  as  dyes.  Iron 
increases  the  shade  by  forming  tannate  or  gallate  of  iron. 
See  "  JRhus",  etc. 

The  leaves  of  sassafras  contain  an  unusual  proportion  of 
mucilage,  which  would  readily  serve  as  a  substitute  for 
gum  arabic,  flax,  slippery  elm,  Bene,  etc.  Two  or  three 
leaves,  dissolved  in  water,  yield  a  mucilaginous  drink.  I 
made  great  use  of  the  tea  prepared  with  sassafras  root, 
gathered  extemporaneously,  while  Surgeon  to  theHolcombe 
Legion,  S.  C.  Vols.  It  was  given  whenever  a  warm,  aro- 
matic, mucilaginous  tea  was  required,  in  fever,  pneumonia, 
bronchitis,  catarrhs,  mumps,  etc.  The  nurse  detailed  for 
each  company  procured  the  materials  upon  the  spot  where 
the  company  or  regiment  was  posted.  It  served  every  pur- 
pose of  the  articles  usually  supplied  by  the  medical 
purveyors  of  the  army.  The  pith  of  the  sassafras  is  also 
medicinal. 

The  spice  bush' '{Benzoin  odoriferum,  Nees.  Laurus  b.,  L.) 
was  much  used  by  the  soldiers  from  the  upper  part  of  the 
state  for  making  a  pleasant  aromatic  tea.  Many  brought 
the  plant  with  them.  It  is  tolerably  well  diffused  over  the 
Confederate  states,  on  banks  of  streams  and  low  woods. 
In  camp  sassafras  tea  was  often  drunk  daily  by  many  of  the 
officers  and  soldiers  as  a  favorite  substitute  for  green  tea, 
It  is  thought  to  purify  the  blood,  but  the  impression  that  it 
tends  to  impair  the  health  and  intellect  if  persisted  in  must 
be  erroneous.     The  oil  it  contains  is  diuretic. 

I  have  since  read  the  following  in  the  Farmer's  Encyclo- 
paedia : 

"  The  wood  stripped  of  its  bark  is  very  durable,  strong, 
and  resists  worms,  etc.     It  forms  excellent  posts  for  gates. 


353 

Bedsteads  made  of  it  are  never  infested  with  bugs.  It  is, 
however,  only  occasionally  employed  for  any  useful  pur- 
pose, and  never  found  in  the  lumber-yards  of  large  towns. 
The  pith  and  dried  leaves  of  the  young  branches  of  the 
sassafras  contain  much  mucilage,  resembling  that  of  the 
okra  plant,  and  are  extensively  used  in  New  Orleans  to 
thicken  pottage,  and  make  the  celebrated  gumbo  soup.  In 
Virginia,  and  other  Southern  states,  the  inhabitants  make  a 
beer  by  boiling  the  young  shoots  of  the  sassafras  in  water, 
to  which  a  certain  quantity  of  molasses  or  sugar  is  added, 
the  whole  being  left  to  ferment.  The  beer  is  regarded  as 
a  wholesome  and  pleasant  drink  during  summer.  So  is  an 
infusion  of  the  bark  of  the  roots,  which  is  much  drunk  for 
the  cure  of  cutaneous  and  other  disorders." 

A  cheap  and  wholesome  beer  for  the  use  of  soldiers,  or 
as  a  table  beer,  is  prepared  from  the  sassafras,  the  ingre- 
dients being  easily  obtained.  Take  eight  bottles  of  water, 
one  quart  of  molasses,  one  pint  of  yeast,  one  tablespoonful 
of  ginger,  one  and  a  half  tablespoonful  of  cream  of  tartar, 
these  ingredients  being  well  stirred  and  mixed  in  an  open 
vessel ;  after  standing  twenty-four  hours  the  beer  may  be 
bottled,  and  used  immediately.  The  reader  interested  in 
the  manufacture  of  beer,  ale,  porter,  etc.,  will  find  the 
methods  detailed  in  Solly's  Rural  Chemistry,  lire's  Dic- 
tionary of  Arts  and  Manufactures,  and  in  Wilson's  Rural 
Cyclopaedia. 

I  add  the  method  of  preparing 

The  French  Army  Beer. — The  following  is  the  recipe  of 
the  beer  that  has  been  introduced  into  the  French  army 
upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Medical  Board.  It  is  de- 
scribed as  a  very  wholesome  beverage,  of  pleasant  and 
refreshing  taste,  and  promoting  digestion  in  a  remarkable 
degree.  It  may  prove  an  agreeable  beverage  both  in  and 
outside  of  the  army: 

Water 100  litres about  1 00  quarts. 

Molasses 500  grammes about       1  pound. 

Hops 100  grammes about       3  ounces. 

Marshmallow  root 50  grammes , .  .about     1|  ounce. 

Yeast 50  grammes about     lj-  ounce. 

23 


354 

Make  an  infusion  of  the  hops  and  marshmallow  root 
with  abput  twenty  times  their  weight  of  the  boiling  water. 
Another  part  of  the  water  is  used  to  dilute  the  molasses, 
and  another  to  dilute  the  yeast.  All  the  fluids  are  then 
mixed,  and  put  into  a  vessel  for  fermentation.  After  five  or 
six  days  it  will  be  ready  for  use 

The  following  modification  of  the  recipe  may  sometimes 
be  preferable: 

Water 100  litres 100  quarts. 

Honey 800  grammes   1  lb.  10  oz. 

Brown  sugar 800  grammes   1  lb.  1 0  oz. 

Hops 300  grammes 9  oz. 

Yeast 50  grammes 1^  oz. 

I  have  no  doubt  the  mucilaginous  leaves  of  the  sassafras 
or  the  Bene  would  serve  as  a  substitute  for  marshmallow. 
See  also  "Persimmon"  (Diospyros),  "Apple,"  and  "Hop," 
in  this  volume,  for  manufacture  of  domestic  liquors. 

Benzoin  odorifemm,  Nees  V.  Ess.  ">       Spice   bush  ;   fever 

Laurus  benzoin,  L.,  Ell.  Sk.  J  bush.      Grows   along 

rivulets. 

Collected  in  St.  John's,  Charleston  district;  Richland, 
Prof.  Gibbes;  Newbern.     Fl.  April. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  51;  U.  S.  Disp.  1233; 
Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  201;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  553;  Barton, 
295.  This  is  another  of  our  highly  aromatic,  indigenous 
shrubs;  the  bark  is,  besides,  stimulant  and  tonic;  "exten- 
sively used,  in  North  America,  in  intermittent  fevers." 

This  tree  contains  a  remarkable  amount  of  aromatic  prop- 
erty in  every  portion  of  it:  it  yields  benzoin.  Benzoin  is 
also  found  in  our  grasses,  Anthoxanthum  odoratum  (sweet 
scented  vernal  grass),  Holms  odoratus  and  Mellilotus  offici- 
nalis— the  principle  which  appears  to  give  fragrance  to  hay 
and  pasture  land,  and  which  is  communicated  undecom- 
posed  to  the  urine  of  the  cow.  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  The 
berries  contain  an  aromatic  oil,  which  is  esteemed  in  some 
parts  of  the  country  as  an  application  to  bruises,  rheumatic 
limbs,  etc.     It  is  said  to  have  been  employed,  during  the 


355 

Revolutionary  war,  as  a  substitute  for  allspice,  B.  S.  Barton 
states  that  an  infusion  of  the  twigs  has  been  found  effica- 
cious as  a  vermifuge;  the  flowers  are  employed  in  the  place 
of  those  of  the  sassafras. 

A  decoction  of  the  plant  forms  an  excellent  diaphoretic 
drink  in  pneumonias,  colds,  coughs,  etc.,  and  as  such  may 
be  largely  used  among  our  soldiers  in  service. 

The  soldiers  of  the  upper  country  of  South  Carolina, 
serving  in  the  Holcombe  Legion,  of  which  I  was  Surgeon, 
came  into  camp  fully  supplied  with  the  spice  bush  for 
making  a  fragrant,  aromatic,  diaphoretic  tea.  This,  and  a 
tea  prepared  from  the  sassafras,  I  used  entirely  as  a  substi- 
tute for  gum  arabic  and  flaxseed  in  colds,  coughs,  pneumo- 
nias, etc.  See  "Sassafras"  and  "  Ulmus  fulva."  Soldiers 
may  supply  themselves  with  these,  as  they  move  camp,  in 
any  locality. 

Laurus  geniculaia,  Walter.  Pond  spice.  Grows  around 
ponds;  vicinity  of  Charleston;  Newbern.  This,  also,  is 
aromatic. 

Amstolochiaceve.     [The  Birthwort  Tribe.) 
Generally  tonic  and  stimulating. 

Aristolochia  serpentaria,  L.  Serpentaria;  snakeroot.  Dif- 
fused. Richland;  vicinity  of  Charleston;  Newbern.  Fl. 
June. 

Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  Mat.  Med.  420;  Trous.  et  Pid.  Mat. 
Med.  i,  336;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  249;  Eberle,  Mat. 
Med.  i,  280;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  i,  163;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat. 
Med.  520;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  532;  U.  S.  Disp.  658;  Pe. 
Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  i,  231 ;  Journal  de  Pharmacie,  vi, 
365;  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  vii,  493;  Sydenham,  Peechey's 
Trans.  4th  edition,  33;  Ball  and  Gar.  Mat.  Med.  375;  Cul- 
len,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  85;  Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  765;  Mer.  and 
de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  415;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  iii,  82; 
Murray,  Apparat.  Med.  i,  348;  Chap.  Therap.  and  Mat. 
Med.  ii,  411;  Lind.  on  Hot  Climates,  104,  254;  Shec.  Flora 


356 

Carol.  203;  Lincl.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  206;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  251; 
Woody.  Med.  Bot.;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  829;  Linn.  Veg. 
M.  Med.  166;  Bull  Plantes  Ven.  de  France,  83;  Thornton's 
Fam.  Herb.  This  plant  is  well  known  as  a  tonic,  diuretic, 
and  diaphoretic,  of  great  value  in  the  low  stages  of  fever, 
as  in  typhus,  in  chlorosis,  and'  in  atonic  affections  of  the 
intestinal  canal;  indicated  where  we  wish  to  stimulate  and 
excite  at  the  same  time  a  free  diaphoresis  and  diuresis.  It 
is  also  useful  in  promoting  the  cutaneous  excretions  in  ex- 
anthematous  diseases,  where  the  eruptions  are  tardy.  The 
infusion  is  serviceable  in  restraining  vomiting;  much  use  is 
made  of  this  plant  among  the  negroes  in  South  Carolina, 
particularly  in  the  low  stages  of  pneumonia,  to  which  they 
are  particularly  liable.  I  have  observed  the  good  effects  of 
both  this  and  the  senega  snakeroot  (Polygala  senega)  in  this 
affection.  The  dose  of  the  powdered  root  is  ten  to  thirty 
grains;  of  the  infusion  of  one  ounce  to  one  pint  of  boiling 
water,  two  ounces  may  be  taken  as  often  as  occasion  requires. 
Its  effects  are  increased  by  combining  it  with  camphor.  Dr. 
Thornton  (Fam.  Herb.  cit.  sup.)  used  it  in  typhus  fever;  two 
drachms  of  the  tincture,  combined  with  ten  grains  of  the 
powder  and  five  drachms  of  the  tincture  of  opium,  may  be 
given  every  hour.  It  is  said  to  add  much  to  the  efficacy  of 
bark. 

Several  vegetable  infusions  surpass  even  sea-salt  in  anti- 
septic power.  Sir  John  Pringle  says  that  several  bitters, 
such  as  serpentaria,  chamomile,  or  Peruvian  bark,  exceed 
salt,  he  inferred,  one-hundred  and  twenty  times — "flesh  re- 
maining long  untainted  when  immersed  in  their  infusions; 
camphor  is  more  powerful  than  anything  else."  Wilson's 
Rural  Cyclop.  This  antiseptic  power  of  certain  vegetable 
substances  should  be  compared  with  their  medicinal  effects 
when  prescribed  internally.  All  the  articles  just  mentioned 
are,  it  will  be  remembered,  employed  in  typhoid  and  low 
fevers.  Among  vegetable  products  vinegar  is  also  antisep- 
tic, and  in  the  latter  stages  of  low  forms  of  fever,  dysentery, 
etc.,  is  highly  useful.  Among  the  astringents  possessed  of 
antiseptic  properties,  the  tannin  may  be  the  potent  agent, 
on  account  of  its  affinity  for  albumen  and  gelatine. 


357 

Aristolochia  hastata.     Rich,  shaded  soils.    Fl.  June. 
IT.  S.  Disp.  658;  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  xiv,  121.     It  is  said 
to  be  similar  in  properties  to  the  A.  serpentaria. 

AristolocMa  sipho.  Shec.  Fl.  Carol.  205.  Similar  in  prop- 
erties to  the  others. 

Asarum  Canadense,  L.  Wild  ginger  ;  Canada  snakeroot. 
Rich  soil  ;  collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl.  April. 

U.  S.  Disp.  125;  Pe.  Mat,  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  243; 
Frost's  Elems.  220;  Med.  Journal  Pharm.  x,  186;  Diet.  Univ. 
des  Drogues  Simples,  Ann.  1733  ;  Cullen  Mat.  Med.  ii,  473, 
553 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  Med.  i,  463 ;  Big.  Am.  Med. 
Bot.  i,  149  ;  Schoepf,  Mat.  Med.  72,  in  op.  cit. ;  Barton's 
Collection,  26,  48  ;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  368  ;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst. 
Bot.  206;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  527.  An  aromatic,  stimu- 
lant tonic  and  diaphoretic,  "applicable  in  similar  cases  with 
serpentaria."  It  is  employed  in  cases  requiring  a  medicine 
of  this  class,  and  is  used  in  colic  where  no  inflammation 
exists.  It  is  valuable  in  colds,  coughs,  and  female  obstruc- 
tions as  a  warm,  diffusible  stimulant  and  diaphoretic;  some- 
times combined  with  snakeroot  and  puccoon  root  (Sanguina- 
ria<).  Dr.  Firth  gave  it  with  benefit  in  the  tetanus  of 
children  arising  from  cold.  The  leaves,  dried  and  pow- 
dered, have  powerful  errhine  properties.  They  were  once 
considered  actively  emetic  (Shec.  Fl.  Carol.  219) ;  but  this 
has  been  denied  by  Bigelow  and  Barton,  op.  cit.  The  root 
is  often  used  as  a  substitute  for  ginger,  to  which  it  is  said 
to  be  fully  equal.  According  to  Bigelow's  examination,  it 
contains  a  pungent,  volatile  oil,  and  a  resin  which  communi- 
cate to  alcohol  the  virtues  of  the  plant,  fecula,  a  gum, 
mucus,  etc.,  op.  cit.  153,  1.  By  the  Anal,  of  Mr.  Rushton, 
quoted  in  Griffith's  work  from  the  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  x, 
81,  and  more  recently  of  Mr.  Proctor,  ibid,  xii,  177,  it  is 
shown  that  the  active  principle  is  an  aromatic,  essential  oil, 
and  that  it  contains  neither  asarin  nor  camphor. 

This  plant  may  be  given  either  in  powder,  tincture,  or 


358 

infusion  ;  dose  of  powder,  thirty  grains.     It  may  be  boiled 
in  milk  and  drunk  freely.     A  syrup  may  also  be  made. 

Asarum  Virginicum.  Heart  snakeroot.  Grows  in  rocky 
soils.     Fl.  July. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  218 ;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med,  219 ; 
"a  stimulating  diaphoretic,  fully  equal  to  the  Arist.  Serp." 
Probably  possessed  of  similar  properties  to  the  other. 
Milne,  in  his  Ind.  Bot.  73,  alludes  to  this  species  as  one  of 
the  strongest  of  the  vegetable  errhines — the  roots  and  leaves 
being  used.  "  The  fresh  leaves  applied  to  the  nostrils 
speedily  terminate  attacks  of  slight  cold  by  the  discharge 
which  they  induce."  Those  who  snuff  find  it  a  valuable 
addition  to  tobacco — the  dried  leaves  being  powdered  and 
mixed  with  it.  The  decoction  and  infusion  of  this  were 
considered  emetic,  and  great  relief  was  said  to  have  been 
afforded  by.it  in  periodical  headaches,  vertigoes,  etc.;  one 
scruple  of  the  fresh  or  one  drachm  of  the  dried  root  and 
leaves  was  employed  as  an  emetic  and  cathartic. 

Asarum  arifolium,  Mich.  Grows  in  shaded,  rich  soils ; 
collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  near  Whitehall  PI.;  vicinity 
of  Charleston.     Fl.  May. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  217.  This,  no  doubt,  partakes  of  the 
properties  of  the  others,  if  it  is  not  identical  ;  Linnaeus 
proposes  it  as  a  substitute  for  hyppo ;  and  Dr.  Cutler  says 
that  the  powdered  root,  in  moderate  doses,  acts  as  a  gentle 
emetic,  one  and  a  half  drachm  given  in  substance.  The 
"tincture  possesses  both  emetic  and  cathartic  virtues." 
This,  like  the  former,  is  a  very  powerful  sternutatory  ;  when 
the  powdered  leaves  are  used,  the  discharge  from  the  nose 
will  sometimes  last  for  three  days,  hence  it  has  been  applied 
in  this  way  with  great  advantage  in  stubborn  disorders  of 
the  head,  palsies,  etc.  "A  case  in  which  there  was  paraly- 
sis of  the  mouth  and  tongue  was  cured  by  one  application 
of  it." 

Amarantace^.     (The  Amaranth  Tribe.) 

The  leaves  of  many  of  the  species  are  wholesome  and 
mucilag-inoua. 


359 

Achyranthes  repens,  Ell.  Forty-knot.  Drffused;  grows 
in  Fairfield  district,  and  in  the  streets  of  Charleston. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  311.  It  is  possessed  of  well 
marked  diuretic  properties,  and  is  employed  in  ischuryand 
dysury,  and  in  the  gravelly  complaints  of  old  persons.  In 
Fairfield  district,  S.  C,  it  has  lately  been  employed  with 
decided  success  in  several  cases  of  dropsy,  but  sharing  the 
fate  of  all  other  diuretics  in  being  sometimes  inefficient  in 
cases  depending  upon  organic  changes,  or  produced  by 
causes  other  than  those  connected  with  the  circulation.  It 
is  given  in  decoction — a  handful  of  the  herb  to  a  pint  of 
water — of  which  a  wineglassful  is  taken  three  times  a  day. 

Salsola  kali.     Saltwort. 

Among  the  plants  used  in  procuring  soda  in  Spain  are 
"the  different  species  of  Salsola,  Salicornia,  and  Batis  mari- 
tima.  The  Zostera  maritima  is  burnt  in  some  places  on  the 
borders  of  the  Baltic.  In  this  country  (Scotland,  see  Thorn- 
ton's Fam.  Herbal)  we  burn  the  various  species  of  fuci,  and 
in  France  they  burn  the  Chenopodiurn  maritimurn.  In  order 
to  obtain  it  the  carbonate  must  be  treated  like  potash  of 
commerce,  with  lime  and  ardent  spirits  as  described  before." 
Within  the  limits  of  the  Confederate  States  we  have  all  the 
above  plants,  save  C.  maritimurn.  Little  doubt,  however, 
exists  in  my  mind  that  our  several  species  of  Chenopodiurn, 
will  be  found  to  contain  potash  or  soda  in  large  amount. 
Some  plants,  "which  in  their  native  soil  yield  only  potash, 
afford  also  soda  if  they  are  cultivated  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  sea."  "The  soda  is  more  or  less  pure  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  particular  plant  from  which  it  is  obtained" 
(Thornton).  Of  Salicornia,  the  species  are  found  on  the 
coast  of  Florida,  and  northward.  Batis  maritima,  L.  "Salt- 
marshes,  Apalachicola,  and  northward."  Zostera  marina, 
L.  West  Florida,  and  northward.  (Chapman's  So.  Flora). 
See  " Sapiudus,"  in  this  volume. 

Wilson  says  also  of  the  Salsola  kali  that  it  is  the  best  of 
our  native  plants  for  yielding  "kelp,  barilla,  potash,  and 
soda,  and  was  formerly  collected  in  considerable  quantities 


360 

on  oar  western  coasts,  and  burned  to  yield  soda  for  the 
manufacture  of  glass,  and  for  other  purposes.  It  grows 
freely  from  seed,  and  does  not  require  any  great  nicety  of 
management,  yet  never  has  been  carefully  cultivated." 
Rural  Cyc.  See  also  " Fucks,"  in  this  volume,  for  method 
of  preparing  barilla  and  soda  from  sea-weeds. 

I  introduce  the  following  brief  process  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  soda,  as  we  have  several  plants  in  the  Confederate 
States  which  furnish  it.  Far  the  best  mode  now  adopted  is 
to  procure  it  from  sea-water,  but  this  may  not  always  be 
attainable.  "For  the  manufacture  of  soda,  the  marine 
plants  are  gathered  at  the  season  when  their  vegetation  has 
terminated,  and  they  are  left  to  dry.  A  pit  four  feet  square 
and  three  feet  deep  is  dug  iu  the  earth;  this  is  heated  with 
split  wood,  and  the  saline  plants  are  afterward  thrown 
gradually  in.  Combustion  is  continued  during  seven  or 
eight  days;  the  ashes  become  fused  in  the  pit,  and  remain 
in  this  state  till  the  end  of  the  process,  when  the  combus- 
tion is  completed;  the  whole  is  allowed  to  cool,  and  then 
the  block  of  soda  is  divided  into  large  pieces  for  the  mar- 
ket." "In  order  that  soda  may  possess  all  the  requisite 
strength,  it  is  necessary  to  separate  it  from  the  carbonic  acid 
with  which  it  is  always  united,  and  by  which  its  properties 
are  weakened.  This  is  easily  done  by  mixing  quick-lime 
with  a  solution  of  soda;  the  acid  has  so  strong  an  affinity 
for  lime  as  to  quit  the  soda  to  combine  with  it.  The  lye 
procured  from  this  mixture  is  caustic,  and  leaves  a  burning 
impression  upon  the  tongue;  the  soda  thus  purified  acts 
more  readily  upon  the  bodies  with  which  it  combines.  This 
mode  of  preparation  is  indispensable  when  soda  is  to  be 
employed  with  oil  in  the  manufacture  of  hard  soap;  it  is 
useless  when  it  is  to  be  combined  at  a  strong  heat  with 
earthy  bodies,  as  is  the  case  in  glass-works."  Chaptal  also 
copies  from  M.  DeSaussure's  Treatise  on  Vegetation  a  very 
extensive  table,  giving  the  constituents  of  a  great  many 
plants,  trees,  etc.,  which  the  reader  may  consult.  Among 
the  plants  used  in  preparing  soda  on  the  Mediterranean  are 
the  Salicornia  Europea,  the  Salsola  tragus,  the  Stalice  limonium, 


361 

the  Atriplex  poriulacoides,  the  Salsola  kali.  "We  have  grow- 
ing in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  the  Salsola  kali,  and  the 
Staliee  Carolinana,  Walt.,  which  should  be  tested,  the 
Atriplex  hastata,  and  the  two  species  of  Salicornia,  mentioned 
above,  which  also  grow  on  our  coast.  To  show  the  alliance 
of  the  natural  families  in  physical  resemblances  and  natural 
properties,  I  find  Chenopodium,  Atriplex,  Salicornia,  and  Sal- 
sola all  in  one  tribe,  and  each  rich  in  potash  or  soda.  The 
fumitory  (Fumaria)  is  one  of  the  plants  richer  in  potash 
than  the  wormwood  (Chenopodium). 

Salicornia  herbacea,  L.  Glasswort.  Salt  marshes  along 
coast  of  Georgia  and  Carolina. 

We  have  two  species  of  this  genus,  which  is  celebrated, 
commercially,  for  the  production  of  alkaline  salts.  Wilson 
states  of  S.  herbacea  that  the  whole  plant  abounds  in  saline 
juices,  and  possesses  a  saline  taste;  and  that  it  was  formerly 
burned  in  common  with  the  richly  alkaline  fuci  in  the  manu- 
facture of  kelp;  that  it  is  greedily  eaten  by  sheep  and  cattle, 
and  that  it  is  sometimes  gathered  and  used  as  a  substitute 
for  rock  samphire  in  Scotland.     See  " Salsola." 

Chenopodiace^e.     (The  Goose-foot  Tribe.) 
Some  are  wholesome,  others  possess  an  essential  oil,  which 
is  tonic  and  antispasmodic.    The  beet  and  spinach,  cultivat- 
ed in  the  Confederate  States,  belong  to  this  order. 

Atriplex  laciniata,  L.  Jagged  sea-orach.  Grows  along 
salt  streams  ;  Fl.  July.  ' 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  247.  The  expressed  juice,  in  doses  of 
four  to  eight  grains  is  said  to  act  as  a  powerful  purgative. 
According  to  Schoepf,  it  is  used  as  a  substitute  for  gam- 
boge in  dropsy  and  asthma. 

Chenopodium  anthelminticum,  L.  Jerusalem  oak;  worm- 
seed.  Diffused;  collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton; ISTewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Linnaeus,  Veg.  M.  Med.;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii, 
274;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  218;  Ell.  Bot.  i,  331;  Chap.  Therap. 


362 

and  Mat.  Med.  ii,  71 ;  Drayton's  View  of  South  Carolina, 
65;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  191;  U.  S.  Disp.  206;  Bart. 
M.  Bot.  ii,  183;  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  v,  180;  Bergii,  Mat. 
Med.  i,  183;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot,  538.  It  is  well  known  as 
"one  of  our  most  efficient  indigenous  anthelmintics,"  adapt- 
ed to  the  expulsion  of  lumbrici  in  children.  Eberle  em- 
ployed the  oil  of  the  seeds  with  success  in  these  cases,  after 
every  other  remedy  had  failed.  The  dose  to  a  child  under 
five  years  is  two  drops;  to  an  adult  thirty  drops,  given  on 
sugar  grated  in  water.  The  expressed  juice  may  be  used, 
or  a  decoction  of  the  leaves  in  milk,  a  wineglassful  at  a 
dose.  The  dose  of  the  seed,  for  a  child  two  years  old,  is 
from  one  to  two  scruples,  mixed  with  syrup  or  bruised  in 
castor  oil.  The  distilled  water  may  also  be  used.  These 
plants  are  much  employed  on  the  plantations  in  South  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia  for  their  anthelmintic  properties,  the 
seeds  being  collected  in  the  fall. 

The  wormwood  (Artemisia)  of  which  there  is  a  species 
(A.  caudata)  growing  in  Florida  and  northward,  is  said  to  be 
rich  in  potash.  The  Chenopodium,  of  which  we  have  several 
species,  although  not  belonging  to  the  same  natural  family, 
is  perhaps  equally  rich  in  the  substance.  The  "wormwood 
is  highly  recommended  to  be  converted  into  charcoal,  to  be 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder."  See  "Salix."  In 
fact,  all  the  Chenopodiums  (goose-foot)  are  also  rich  in  alka- 
line salts,  potash,  etc.,  and  may  be  used  for  its  manufacture. 
The  Persian  insect  powder,  a  species  of  Pyrethrum  (or  Per- 
sian chamomile),  destroys  insects  with  great  certainty.  I 
think  it  likely  that  some  of  the  plants  just  mentioned,  the 
milfoil  {Achillea  millefolium),  the  tansy  ( Tanaceium  vulgare), 
or  ox-eye  daisy  (Leucanthemum  vulgare,  L.),  all  growing  in 
the  Confederate  States,  may  possibly  be  found  to  answer 
the  purpose  of  destroying  insects,  lice,  etc.,  on  plants  and 
animals.  They  contain  a  pungent  oil.  There  is  a  notice  of 
the  Pyrethrum  (roseu/n,  purpureum,  and  carneum)  in  Patent 
Office  Reports,  1857,  129.  I  would  advise  experimenting 
with  our  native  plants. 

See  Dasistoma  for  plant  hostile  to  insects. 


363 

I  have  several  times  stated  that  the  allied  Artemisia,  worm- 
wood, was  exceedingly  rich  in  potash.  The  natural  affini- 
ties are  here  borne  out,  for  the  family  Chenopodiocece  contains 
many  plants  furnishing  soda  in  large  proportion.  Such  are 
Salsola,  Salicornia,  Atriplex,  and  salt-marsh  Chenopodiums ;  a 
notice  of  species  of  all  these  genera  is  included  in  this  re- 
port. They  should  receive  the  attention  of  the  nitre  manu- 
facturers. Nitrate  of  potash  "is  found  in  the  common 
horseradish,  in  the  nettle,  and  the  sunflower."  Farmer's 
En  eye. 

Chenopodium  botrys,  Ph.  Jerusalem  oak  of  some.  Grows 
near  Columbia.     Fl.  August. 

U.  S.  Disp.  206;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  235;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat. 
Med.  304;  Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  i,  181;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de 
M.  Med.  ii,  225 ;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  388 ;  Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot. 
250.  The  juice  is  similar  to  the  other,  being  carminative, 
pectoral,  emmenagogue,  and  vermifuge;  the  essential  oil  is 
antispasmodic,  tonic,  and  vermifuge.  An  infusion,  as  tea, 
is  resolutive  and  expectorant,  and  is  useful  in  flatulent  colic, 
spasmodic  cough,  humoral  asthma,  and  in  hysteria.  The 
expressed  juice  of  this  species  is  given  in  doses  of  a  table- 
spoonful,  in  molasses,  to  children  affected  with  worms,  or 
the  seeds  are  reduced  to  a  powder,  and  made  into  an  elec- 
tuary with  syrup.  See  Milne,  Inch  Bot.  76 ;  Linn.  Veg. 
M.  Med.  41.  "It  is  asserted,"  observes  Shec.  Flora  Carol. 
389,  "that  the  whole  seeds  produce  worms  in  the  stomach, 
and  if  a  parcel  be  baked  in  a  loaf  of  bread  they  will  gener- 
ate worms.  Such  is  the  belief;  what  credit  may  be  due  to 
it,  I  leave  to  the  determination  of  those  who  either  have, 
or  may  hereafter,  put  it  to  the  trial!" 

Chenopodium  ambrosioides,  Ph.  Vicinity  of  Charleston, 
Bach;  grows  in  Georgia,  according  to  Pursh ;  Newbern. 
Fl.  July. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  The  essential  oil  of  this  is  also 
tonic  and  antispasmodic.  U.  S.  Disp.  206.  Plenk  reports 
five  cases  of  chorea  cured  by  the  infusion  made  with  two 


364 

drachms  to  one  ounce  of  water,  of  which  a  cupful  is  to  be 
taken  morning  and  night.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  ii,  222.  M.  Mack  used  it,  with  equal  success,  in  the 
hospital  at  Vienna,  in  this  and  in  other  nervous  affections; 
see,  also,  the  supplement  to  the  work  last  mentioned,  1846, 
p.  165.  It  is  employed  by  M.  Martius  in  the  injection  of 
the  mucous  membrane  of  the  lungs.  MM.  Rilliet  and  Bar- 
thez  used  it  in  the  chorea  of  infants  particularly.  Ann.  des 
Sci.  Nat.  xii,  220;  Bouchardat,  Ann.  de  Therap.  1844;  Ga- 
zette de  Med.  de  Saltzburg,  Bill.  Med.  xii,  516.  It  is  found, 
by  chemical  analysis,  to  possess  various  products,  the  most 
important  of  which  are  gluten  and  a  volatile  oil.  Bull,  des 
Sc.  Med.  de  Ferus,  vii,  225.  The  infusion  emits  a  very 
strong,  aromatic  odor,  and  is  used  in  parts  of  this  country 
in  the  place  of  tea. 

Chmopodium  album,  L.  Richland,  L.  Gibbes ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston,  Bach. 

M6r.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  223;  Phys.  Med. 
Trans.,  Calcutta,  ii,  40.  It  is  a  sedative  and  diuretic;  used 
in  hemorrhoids.  Chevallier  remarks  the  singular  fact  that 
the  C.  valvaria,  a  foreign  species,  exhales  pure  ammonia  dur- 
ing its  whole  existence.  This  is  the  only  observation  on 
record  of  a  gaseous  exhalation  of  azote  by  perfect  vegeta- 
bles, and  the  facility  with  which  this  principle  is  aban- 
doned by  ammonia  may,  perhaps,  explain  the  presence  of 
azotic  products  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Ann.  des  Sci. 
Nat.  i,  444;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  209.  It  might  be  inter- 
esting to  observe  whether  anything  of  this  kind  takes  place 
in  our  species. 

The  above  was  printed  by  me  in  1849.  Worm-seed  plant 
is  said  to  be  very  rich  in  potash — and  wormwood  has  been 
planted  for  the  manufacture  of  glass — if  so,  the  note  on 
the  subject  of  the  C.  vulmria  exhaling  ammonia  is  corrob- 
orated by  the  above  observation.  I  have  just  learned,  June, 
1862,  that  an  enterprise  was  set  on  foot  several  years  since 
near  Columbia,  S.  C,  to  cultivate  the  wormwood  on  a  large 
scale  for  the  production  of  potash.     The  sugar-maple  is 


365 

very  rich  in  potash,  probably  the  other  maples  also.     See 
Salsola,  Quercus,  Zea,  Phytolacca,  etc.,  in  this  volume. 

Phytolaccacejs.     (The  Virginia  Poke  Tribe.) 

'    Phytolacca  decandra,  L.     Poke.     Diffused  in  rich  spots; 
Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  537;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  135;  Bell's  Pract. 
Diet.  355;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  ii,  213;  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  xv, 
169;  Murray's  App.  Med.  iv,  335;  Kalm,  Travels  in  K  Am. 
p.  197;  Graffenreid,  Mem.  Berne,  iii,  185;  Schcepf,  M.  Med. 
71;  Browne,  Hist.  Jamaica,  232;  Amsen.  Acad,  iv;  Miller's 
Diet.,  art.  Phyt.  Dec;  Sprogel,  Diss.  Cirven.  24;  Beckman, 
Com.  1764,  9;  Allioni,  Flora  Ped.  ii,  132;  Franklin's  Works, 
i ;  Cutler,  Mem.  Am.  Acad,  i,  447 ;  Rush,  i,  259 ;  Thacher's  U. 
S.  Disp.  300;  Shultz's  Inaug.  Diss.  N.  Am.  Journal  vi; 
Journal  de  Med.  de  Corvisart  Leroux,  xvi,  137;  Ann.  de 
Chim.  lxii,  71;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  v,  298; 
Coxe,  Am.  Dis.  486;  Liud.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  210.  The  juice 
of  the  leaves  or  berries,  inspissated  in  the  sun  to  the  con- 
sistence of  an  extract,  will,  it  is  said,  discuss  hard  tumors 
if  applied  to  the  part,  "and  destroy  cancers  by  eating  them 
out  by  the  roots!"  (Am.  Herbal,  by  J.  Stearns.)  Mixed 
with  brandy,  it  is  extolled  in  the  cure  of  rheumatism,  eas- 
ing pain  and  producing  discharge  of  the  cutaneous  and 
urinary  secretions.  One  ounce  of  the  dried  root  infused 
in  a  pint  of  wine  is  said  to  act  kindly  as  an  emetic,  in  doses 
of  two  tablespoonfuls.  Bigelow  also  was  of  the  opinion 
that  it  resembled  ipecacuanha  in  its  mode  of  operation;  but 
later  experimenters  give  an  unfavorable  report,  as  it  is  some- 
times uncertain,  acting  too  powerfully  by  accumulation. 
The  pulverized  root  is  also  emetic  in  doses  of  one  to  two 
drachms.  "The  tincture  of  the  ripe  berries  seems  to  have 
acquired  a  well-founded  reputation  as  a  remedy  in  chronic 
and  syphilitic  rheumatism,  and  for  allaying  syphilitic  pains." 
By  some  thought  to  be  more  useful  than  guaiac.  The  de- 
coction has  been  used  in  scrofula  also.  A  spirit  distilled 
from  the  berries  killed  a  dog  in  a  few  moments  by  its  vio- 
lent emetic  effect;  and,  according  to  De  Candolle,  it  is  a 


366 

powerful  purgative.  The  French  and  Portuguese  mixed  it 
with  their  wine,  to  give  it  color,  and  this  was  prohibited  by 
royal  ordinance  of  Louis  XIV,  "  on  pain  of  death,  as  it  in- 
jured the  flavor!"  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  210;  Mer.  and  de 
L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  states  that  two  spoonfuls  of  the  juice  of 
the  old  plant,  which  is  acrid,  will  purge  violently;  applied 
externally,  it  will  irritate  the  skin,  and  it  is  used  in  the  cure 
of  sanious  ulcers,  cutaneous  eruptions,  itch,  and  hemorr- 
hoids; for  the  latter  affection,  an  infusion  is  injected  per 
rectum.  Drs.  Jones  and  Kollock,  of  Georgia,  assure  us 
(adds  Merat)  that  they  cure  syphilis  with  it,  in  all  its  stages, 
without  the  use  of  mercury.  Dr.  Rush  relates  that  several 
students  of  Yale  College  were  severely  purged  from  eating 
the  flesh  of  pigeons  which  had  fed  on  the  berries.  From 
the  analysis  in  Annal.  de  Chimie,  lxii,  71,  it  is  shown  to 
contain  an  enormous  quantity  of  potash,  42  in  100  parts, 
and  it  is  proposed  to  cultivate  it  for  the  manufacture  of  this 
article.  From  later  examinations  of  Dr.  E.  Donnelly  (Am. 
Jour.  Pharm.  ix,  168),  it  appears  to  contain  gum  resin  262, 
starch  20,  potash  2,  a  small  quantity  of  fixed  oil,  and  66. o 
of  woody  fibre.  According  to  the  U.  S.  Disp.,  it  is  also 
somewhat  narcotic,  and,  as  an  emetic,  is  considered  very 
slow  in  its  operation,  sometimes  not  acting  for  several  hours, 
and  then  frequently  upon  the  bowels ;  but  the  vomiting  pro- 
duced by  it  is  not  attended  with  pain  or  spasm.  In  over 
doses,  its  effects  are  quite  dangerous.  As  an  alterative,  the 
dose  is  from  one  to  five  grains.  Dr.  Griffith  has  also  used 
it  with  success  in  syphilitic  rheumatism.  (Med.  Bot.  535.) 
In  the  supplement  to  the  Diet.  Univ.  de  M.  Med.  1846,  557, 
it  is  said  to  have  been  used  with  good  effect  in  paralysis  of 
the  intestines.  Precis  des  Travaux  de  l'Acad.  de  Rouen, 
188, 1838;  Comptes  Rendus  Hebdom.  des  Sci.  iv,  12,  Janu- 
ary, 1837.  The  ointment,  prepared  by  mixing  one  drachm 
of  the  powdered  root  or  leaves  with  one  ounce  of  lard,  has 
been  applied  with  advantage  in  diseases  affecting  the  scalp, 
as  psora,  tinea  capitis,  etc.  Dr.  Bigelow  was  successful  with 
it,  and  Dr.  Haynard  cured  cases  in  which  sulphur  had  fail- 
ed.    A  gentleman  informs  me  that  he  has  frequently  seen 


367 

the  sores  of  secondary  syphilis  heal  up  by  the  application 
of  a  strong  decoction  of  the  roots.  Dr.  Braconnot  consid- 
ers the  yellow  liquor  produced  by  the  juice  of  the  berries 
one  of  the  most  delicate  tests  of  the  presence  of  acids.  Dr. 
Shultz  procured  from  half  a  bushel  of  the  berries  six  pints 
of  spirits,  sufficiently  strong  to  take  fire  and  burn  with 
readiness.  The  root  of  the  plant  should  be  dog  in  autumn, 
sliced,  dried,  and  kept  in  close-stopped  bottles. 

Dr.  R  Moore,  of  Sumter  district,  S.  C,  informs  me  that 
the  berries  of  the  poke  in  alcohol  or  whiskey,  a  dessert 
spoonful  repeatedly  given,  has  been  found  one  of  the  most 
efficient  remedies  we  possess  in  rheumatism.  Dr.  Ballard, 
of  the  same  district,  has  used  it  with  satisfactor}'  results  for 
fifty  years.  It  is  very  generally  employed  in  this  way  by 
many.  The  root  is  commonly  used,  applied  externally,  to 
cure  mange  in  dogs.  The  root  should  be  dug  late  in 
autumn,  or  during  the  winter,  and  the  powder  kept  in 
close-stopped  bottles,  as  it  deteriorates. 

An  excellent  crimson  dye  is  thus  prepared  (Thornton's 
So.  Gardener):  to  two  gallons  of  the  juice  of  pokeberries, 
when  they  are  quite  ripe,  add  half  a  gallon  of  strong 
vinegar  made  of  the  wild  crab-apple  (ordinary  vinegar  will 
do,  as  the  writer  has  seen),  to  dye  one  pound  of  wool,  which 
must  be  washed  very  clean  with  hard  soap  ;  the  wool  when 
wrung  dry  is  to  be  put  into  the  vinegar  and  pokeberry* 
juice,  and  simmered  in  a  copper  vessel  for  one  hour,  then 
take  out  the  wool  and  let  it  drip  awhile,  and  spread  it  in 
the  sun.     The  vessel  must  be  free  from  grease  of  any  kind. 

The  writer  has  seen  articles  dyed  successfully  with  this 
plant  during  the  present  year  (1862).  The  "  Solferino  " 
color  is  obtained  from  it.  With  alum  to  fix  the  color,  I 
have  used  the  juice  of  the  pokeberry  as  a  red  ink.  The 
directions  to  the  printer  for  this  volume  were  written  with 
this ;  before  adding  alum  I  found  that  the  red  color  was 
fugitive.  I  consider  it,  prepared  as  above,  an  excellent 
substitute  for  carmine  ink. 

The  juice  of  the  leaf  of  the  garden  Tanya  makes  an 
indelible  dark  brown  dye.     I  would  suggest  that  the  addi- 


tion  of  nitrate  of  silver,  sulphate  of  iron,  or  alum  would 
make  an  indelible  ink  for  marking  linen. 

Polygonace^i.     [The  Buckwheat  Tribe.) 
The  leaves  and  roots  are  generally  acid  and  agreeable. 

Rumex  crispus,  L.  Dock.  Grows  around  buildings; 
diffused;  collected  in  St.  John's;  Newbern.     Fl.  June. 

Ell.  Bot.  414  ;  IT.  S.  Disp.  606.  The  decoction  is  astrin- 
gent, alterative,  and  tonic,  uniting  a  laxative  power  with 
these,  and  resembling  rhubarb  in  its  mode  of  operation. 
It  has  been  used  with  success  as  an  alterative  in  itch  and 
syphilis ;  the  powdered  root  with  milk,  or  as  an  ointment, 
is  applied  externally  in  scabies. 

Dr.  N".  S.  Davis,  formerly  of  New  York,  "  is  satisfied 
from  his  experiments  and  observations  that  the  chief  value 
of  dockroot  '  consists  in  its  alterative  and  gently  laxative 
qualities.'  As  an  alterative  he  esteems  it  to  be  'fully 
equal  to  the  far-famed  sarsaparilla.'  Quod  est  demonstran- 
dum."    Dunglison. 

It  is  recommended  as  a  dentrifice,  especially  where  the 
gums  are  spongy.  A  decoction  of  the  roots  is  used  as  a 
coolins:  alterative — no  doubt  on  account  of  the  saline  con- 
stituents  of  this  genus.  The  expressed  juice  is  applied  to 
ringworm  and  eruptive  diseases. 

It  is  supposed  that  our  species  possess  all  the  virtues  of 
the  officinal ;  two  ounces  of  the  fresh  root,  or  one  ounce  of 
the  dried  may  be  boiled  in  a  pint  of  water,  of  which  two 
ounces  can  be  taken  at  a  dose. 


Rumex  aeetosella,  Walt.  Flora  Carol.  Sorrel.  Sheep's- 
sorrel.  Abundant  in  sandy  pastures ;  collected  in  St. 
John's  ;  Richland,  Gibbes  ;  ]STewbern.     Fl.  June. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  605 ;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  279 ;  Ed.  and  Vav. 
Mat.  Med.  536 ;  Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  i,  300 ;  Griffith,  Med. 
Bot.  546.  This  is  also  considered  one  of  the  most  valuable 
of  the  species.  It  is  refrigerant  and  diuretic,  and  is  em- 
ployed as  an  article  of  diet  in  scorbutic  complaints;  the 


369 

young  shoots  may  be  eaten  as  a  salad;  but  it  is  said  to 
prove  injurious  in  large  quantities,  on  account  of  the  oxalic 
acid  existing  in  it.  The  acid  taste  is  owing  to  binoxalate 
of  potash  and  tartaric  acid ;  this  is  almost  destroyed  by 
drying. 

The  bruised  plant  is  often  applied  to  sores,  and  it  is 
thought  to  be  very  active  in  allaying  inflammation — doubt- 
less owing  to  its  saline  constituents. 

Plants  containing  vegetable  acid. — The  acids  vary  during  the 
several  stages  of  vegetation — these  are  the  oxalic,  citric,  ma- 
lic, tartaric,  gallic,  acetic,  Prussic,  etc.  Oxalic  acid  has  been 
found  by  M.  Deyeux  free  in  the  hulls  of  the  chickpea,  and 
it  has  been  extracted  from  the  expressed  juice  of  the  plant ; 
also  found  in  the  stalks  and  leaves  of  sorrel,  and  in  the  juice 
of  all  the  varieties  of  rhubarb  (Chaptal).  I  have  seen  its 
peculiar  crystals  in  the  several  plants  put  under  the  micro- 
scope. It  is  used  in  detecting  the  presence  of  lime,  and  its 
power  of  dissolving  rapidly  the  oxide  of  iron  makes  it 
useful  in  stamping  cotton  cloths.  "  In  this  process  the  whole 
fabric  is  covered  with  a  mordant  of  iron,  which  is  after- 
ward removed  by  means  of  this  acid  combined  with  gum 
— so  that  the  color  applied  adheres  firmly  only  to  those 
parts  where  the  mordant  has  not  been  destroyed."  It  is 
also  used  in  removing  ink  spots  from  cloth. 

The  astringency  of  the  root  of  the  dock  is  due  to  tannic 
acid,  and  the  acidulousness  of  the  leaves  to  tartaric  acid 
and  the  binoxalate  of  potash. 

Wilson  observes  of  the  Rumex  acetosa,  the  "  common 
dock"  of  England,  which  is  closely  related  to  our  H.  aeeto- 
sella,  that  it  has  been  celebrated  from  very  ancient  times  for 
its  cooling,  antiscorbutic,  diuretic,  and  gratefully  esculent 
properties.  The  expressed  juice  of  its  leaves,  or  a  decoc- 
tion of  them  in  whey,  aflbrds  a  useful  drink  in  cases  of 
inflammatory  fever,  and  the  leaves  themselves,  eaten  freely 
as  a  salad,  cool  the  blood,  and  act  as  either  a  cure  or  a  pre- 
ventive of  scurvy.  It  is  also  much  used  as  a  salad,  and  as 
a  season  for  soups,  broths,  etc.  Rural  Cyc.  Now  that  we 
know  the  composition  of  the  juices  of  the  sorrel  we  can 
24 


■a 


370 

well  understand  to  what  to  ascribe  its  cooling  and  diuretic 
properties.  There  is  an  Italian  proverb  which  says  that  the 
"sorrel  always  grows  with  the  thistle  " — the  leaves  of  the 
first  being  particularly  grateful  when  applied  over  parts 
irritated  by  the  stings  of  the  last.  Our  plant  is  not  so  use- 
ful as  the  English  one. 

Humex  obtusifoUus,~L.  \  Common  dock.  Diffused;  around 
"      dwaricatus,  Ell.  /  buildiegs ;  introduced. 

"  A  decoction  of  its  root  is  highly  efficacious  in  obstinate 
cases  of  the  kind  of  skin  disease  called  ichthyosis,  and 
when  taken  in  large  quantity — as  well,  indeed,  as  the  decoc- 
tion of  any  of  the  fusiform  dockroots — it  acts  as  a  purga- 
tive, in  the  same  manner  as  the  powder  or  the  tincture  of 
Turkey  rhubarb."  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  Our  various 
species  of  Humex  may  upon  examination  be  found  to  be 
capable  of  supplying  the  place  of  cathartics,  now  so  diffi- 
cult to  obtain. 

Humex  sanguineus,  Walt.  Flora  Carol.  Dragon's  blood. 
Grows  around  Charleston  ;  ISTewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  240.  The  root  is  astringent,  sto- 
machic, and  eccoprotic.  Linn.  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  65.  This 
and  the  seeds  are  used  in  dysentery  and  wounds ;  referred 
to  in  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  136,  as  a  mild 
astringent.  Journal  de  Med.  xxiii,  415.  Dr.  "Wood,  in  the 
XL  S.  Disp.  606,  says  that  it  may  be  used  indiscriminately 
with  the  officinal. 

Humex  Briiannicus,  Walt.  Swamps  and  along  streams. 
Fl.  May.     U.  S.  Disp.  606. 

Polygonum  punctatum,  Ell.  Sk.  }  Water  pepper ;  Smart- 
"  hydroviperoides,  Ph.  >  weed;  Biting knotweed. 

"  hydropiper,Mx.  )  Grows    in    damp,    rich 

soils  ;  collected  in  St.  John's,  where  it  grows  abundantly ; 

observed  in  Charleston  ;  Richland,  Gibbes  ;  Newbern.     Fl. 

July. 


371 

Eb.  Mat.  Med.  i,  441 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  559  ;  Ed.  and  Vav. 
Mat.  Med.  128;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  193;  Ogier,  in  So.  Journal 
Med.  and  Pharm.  1846 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med. 
v,  433.  In  the  Bull.  Plantes  Yen.  de  France,  140,  the 
young  leaves  are  said  to  ease  the  pain  of  gout,  and  the 
decoction  is  used  with  great  success  for  dissipating  old 
ulcers.  Dem.  £lem.  de  Bot.  iii,  2(57.  The  expressed  juice 
is  an  excellent  diuretic,  and  is  applied  to  putrid  ulcers; 
u  aqua  hujus  stillatltia  efficax  est  ad  comminuendum  calculam 
etiam  vesica?."  See  Ray's  Catalogus  Plantarum,  230.  This 
plant  is,  however,  more  remarkable  for  its  power  in 
amenorrhoea.  Eberle  asserts  that  he  employed  -it  in  twenty 
cases,  and  was  never  more  successful.  Dr.  Ogier,  of 
Charleston,  S.  C,  has  published  cases  in  the  journal  alluded 
to  above,  confirming  its  value.  One  to  two  ounces  of  the 
strong  infusion  is  given  two  or  three  times  a  day,  or  a 
tincture  may  be  used.*  The  juice  of  this  plant. is  very  acrid 
and  caustic  to  the  taste.  It  is  stated  in  the  Flora  Scotiea, 
207,  that  it  is  found  a  convenient  and  useful  application  for 
driving  off  flies  from  wounds,  occurring  on  cattle  for 
instance ;  the  decoction  will  dye  a  yellow  color.  Linn. 
Veg.  Mat.  Med.  71 ;  Boyle,  de  Util.  Philosoph.  Nat.  pt.  iij 
69.  This  plant  should  be  selected  with  care,  as  it  differs 
but  slightly  from  the  P.  mite,  and  others,  which  possess  no 
value.  It  may  be  distinguished  by  its  burning  taste,  by 
the  sharp,  pellucid  leaves,  and  simple  flower-stalk,  with  the 
stamens  and  pistil  of  equal  length.  The  stipules  are  long, 
truncate,  and  fringed,  with  the  margin  and  midrib  of  the 
leaves  slightly  scabrous. 

A  writer  from  Manchester,  S.  C,  1862,  recommends  for 
our  sick  soldiers  in  camp  the  use  of  this  plant  in  dysentery, 
thus :  "  Draw  a  tea  strong  enough  to  taste  peppery,  and 
use  instead  of  water,  with  or  without  sugar,  hot  or  cold, 
as  the  patient  may  prefer.  It  may  be  drunk  freely,  having 
no  unpleasant  effect.     It  may  be  gathered  and  dried  in  the 

*  Mr.  P.,  of  Charleston,  informs  me  that  he  has  repeatedly  found  an  ointment 
made  with  the  leaves  give  immediate  relief  when  applied  to  piles  in  an  irritable 
and  painful  condition. 


372 

shade  or  used  fresh.  Some  years  ago,  when  that  disease 
raged  in  the  village  where  I  lived,  I  used  it  only  in  my 
household,  every  case  recovering  with  scarcely  impaired 
strength.     The  tea  being  astringent  keeps  up  the  strength. 

Polygonum  aviculare,  L.  Knotgrass.  Diffused  ;  grows  in 
pastures  and  yards;  Richland;  collected  in  St.  John's;  ob- 
served in  the  streets  of  Charleston  ;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  211 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med. 
v,  440 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  558.  According  to  the  encyclopaedia 
the  root  is  powerfully  astringent,  and  is  used  in  diarrhoea, 
and  in  uterine  hemorrhage.  Dem.  de  Bot.  iii,  268 ;  Linn. 
Veg.  M.  Med.  72 ;  Am.  Herbal,  164.  It  is  stated  in  the 
Supplem.  to  the  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  1846,  578,  that  Dr.  Bour- 
geois announced,  in  1840,  that  this  plant  was  an  excellent 
febrifuge,  and  was  used  in  middle  Africa  and  Algeria  as  a 
substitute  for  quinine,  and  furthermore,  that  the  assertion 
was  not  doubted.  Dr.  Levat  Perroton,  of  Lyons,  gives  it 
as  an  excellent  remedy  for  chronic  diarrhoea,  using  a  strong 
decoction  for  a  month  or  more ;  he  reports  nine  cases 
cured  which  had  resisted  other  plans  of  treatment.  See 
Revue  Medicale,  Nov.  1845;  Flor.  Med.  ii,  107.  It  has 
also  been  administered  in  hematemesis.  This  plant  had 
some  reputation  in  these  diseases  in  former  times.  It  was 
said  to  be  emetic  and  purgative,  useful  in  hernia,  and  in 
arresting  the  vomiting  of  blood,  and  was  regarded  as  an 
excellent  vulnerary  in  moderating  fluxes,  diarrhoea,  and 
dysentery.  Griffith,  in  his  Med.  Bot.  546,  observes  that  the 
emetic  property  so  unusual  in  this  genus  is  thought  by  De 
Candolle  to  reside  in  the  testa.  Thunberg,  in  his  "Voy- 
age," mentions  that  in  Japan  they  obtain  a  color  from  it 
similar  to  that  from  indigo. 

Polygonum  polygama,  Vent,  and  Malt.  ")  Grows  in  san- 
"  parvifolia,  Mx.  / dy  pine  barrens; 

Richland  district. 

Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  iii,  129 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  558.  In  small 
doses  it  is  tonic ;  in  large  laxative  and  diaphoretic.     Bige- 


373 

low  says  the  infusion  is  useful  in  imparting  tone  to  the 
digestive  organs. 

Polygonum  convolvulus,  and  scandens,  L.  Grows  in  dry 
soil  and  pastures ;  collected  in  St.  John's ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston.     Fl.  August. 

Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  547.  "  The  seeds  closely  resemble 
buckwheat,  and  may  be  substituted  for  them." 

Polygonum  fagopyrum.  Buckwheat.  Cultivated  in  the 
Confederate  States. 

Rheum  palmatum,  and  emodii.     Rhubarb.     Ex. 

I  insert  this  plant  and  Beta  here,  being  unable  at  this 
time  to  place  them  in  the  natural  system.  The  cultivation 
of  rhubarb,  rosemary,  sage,  rue,  chamomile,  and  many 
other  medicinal  plants,  is  briefly  described  in  the  Patent 
Office  Reports,  1854.  See,  also,  seven  articles  in  the  "Bath 
papers,  vol.  1,"  giving  an  account  of  the  mode  of  culture 
in  England.  The  superiority  of  foreign  rhubarb  is  by 
some  ascribed  to  a  better  mode  of  drying.  Rural  Cyc.  See 
a  paper  translated  by  E.  G.  Smith,  in  Patent  Office  Re- 
ports, 1848,  p.  604,  for  varieties,  mode  of  cultivation,  and 
relative  value. 

In  Patent  Office  Reports,  1855,  p.  25,  is  another  paper 
on  the  cultivation  of  the  medicinal  rhubarb  (P.  palma- 
tum). "  In  the  middle  and  cooler  parts  of  the  United 
States  the  seeds  may  be  sown  in  March  in  a  gentle  hot-bed, 
and  when  the  roots  are  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter 
they  may  be  carefully  drawn  up,  preserving  the  top-root, 
and  planted  in  a  fine,  rich,  and  deep  soil,"  etc.,  etc.  In  the 
Middle  and  Southern  states,  if  planted  in  the  spring,  they 
thrive  in  the  open  air.  They  should  be  shaded  from  very 
hot  weather,  and  continually  watered.  They  are,  however, 
injured  by  a  superabundance  of  moisture.  In  the  month 
of  August,  or  before,  the  seed-stalks  should  be  cut  off, 
which  ought  always  to  be  done  on  the  withering  of  the 
radical  leaves,  and  the  crowns  of  the  plants  should  then  be 


374 

covered  with  mould  in  the  form  of  a  hillock.  The  largest 
specimens  of  this  drug  have  generally  been  allowed  to 
grow  six  or  seven  years.  The  roots  are  then  very  large, 
sometimes  weighing  from  thirty  to  fifty  pounds.  The 
Chinese  take  up  their  rhubarb  in  winter,  as  they  then  con- 
tain the  entire  juice  and  virtue  of  the  plant.  They  are  cut 
transversely  into  pieces  of  moderate  size,  and  this  should 
not  be  delayed.  These  are  then  placed  on  long  tables  or 
boards,  and  turned  three  or  four  times  a  day,  in  order  that 
the  yellow,  viscid  juice  may  incorporate  with  the  substance 
of  the  root.  They  are  then  hung  up  to  diy,  exposed  to  the 
air  and  wind,  but  sheltered  from  the  sun.  Thus  in  about 
two  months  the  roots  are  completely  cured.  Much  loss  in 
weight  occurs  in  drying. 

Those  interested  in  the  culture  of  rhubarb  will  find  an 
excellent  account  of  the  success  with  which  it  was  raised 
in  England,  of  good  quality,  in  Thornton's  Family  Herbal. 
Consult  Pereira's  Materia  Medica,  and  other  treatises  on 
the  subject.  The  importation  of  rhubarb  into  the  Confed- 
erate States  was  enormous,  and  it  commands  a  very  high 
price.  The  greatest  difference  exists  in  the  quality  of  the 
roots.  Turkey  rhubarb  imported  from  Russia  is  the  best. 
I  will  state  in  passing  that  the  Report  for  1855  also  contains 
notices  of  the  best  mode  of  cultivating  many  other  medici- 
nal plants  —  such  as  the  rhatany,  gall-nut  oak,  Iceland 
moss,  liquorice,  quassia,  senna,  gum  arabic,  etc. 

Beta  vulgaris.     Beet.     Mangel-wurzel.     Introduced. 

Vinegar  is  quite  important  to  us  in  the  present  exigency. 
The  following  method  will  enable  us  to  supply  the  place  of 
imported  vinegar:  the  juice  of  one  bushel  of  beet,  which 
is  easily  obtained,  will  make  from  five  to  six  gallons  of  vin- 
egar, equal  to  the  best  made  of  elder  wine.  Wash  and 
grate  the  beets,  and  express  the  juice  in  a  cheese-press,  or 
in  any  other  way  which  a  little  ingenuity  can  suggest ;  put 
the  liquor  into  a  barrel,  cover  the  bung  with  gauze,  and  set 
it  in  the  sun,  and  in  fifteen  or  twenty  days  it  will  be  fit  for 
use.     The  best  vinegar  is  thus  made.     Boston  Cultivator. 


375 

The  saccharine  matter  of  course  soon  takes  on  the  acid 
fermentation.  So  the  ripe  fig,  the  skins,  etc.,  added  to 
vinegar,  increases  largely  the  amount,  and  large  quantities 
can  thus  be  easily  made  with  the  refuse  or  over-ripe  figs, 
which  are  ready  to  be  converted  into  vinegar.  The  juice 
of  the  watermelon  can  no  doubt  be  as  easily  converted 
into  vinegar  or  boiled  down  into  a  syrup  like  molasses. 

The  following  is  the  ordinary  process  of  extracting  sugar 
from  the  beet:  the  roots  are  reduced  to  a  pulp  by  pressing 
them  between  two  rough  cylinders.  The  pulp  is  then  put 
into  bags,  and  the  sap  it  contains  is  pressed  out.  The 
liquor  is  then  boiled,  and  the  saccharine  matter  precipi- 
tated by  quick-lime.  The  liquor  is  now  poured  off',  and  to 
the  residuum  is  added  a  solution  of  sulphuric  acid,  and 
again  boiled.  The  lime  united  with  the  acid  is  got  rid  of 
by  straining,  and  the  liquor  is  then  gently  evaporated,  or 
left  to  granulate  slowly,  after  which  it  is  ready  for  under- 
going the  common  process  of  refining  raw  sugars.  The 
French  manufacturers  have  acquired  so  much  experience, 
adds  Wilson,  that  from  every  one  hundred  pounds  of  beet 
they  extract  twelve  pounds  of  sugar  in  the  short  space  of 
twelve  hours. 

The  Silesian  or  white  beet  is  said  to  be  the  most  profita- 
ble. The  reader  interested  in  preparation  of  sugar  from 
cane  or  beet  may  consult  Boussingault's  Rural  Chemistry, 
Law's  ed.  123,  1857,  lire's  Diet,  of  Arts  and  Manufactures, 
Wilson's  Rural  Cyclopaedia,  and  Chaptal's  Chemistry  ap- 
plied to  Agriculture.  In  France  the  same  land  from 
which  the  beet  has  been  cut  is  planted  in  wheat  with  ad- 
vantage to  the  latter.  As  the  cultivation  of  the  beet  may 
be  undertaken  at  no  distant  date,  I  insert  this  brief  plan 
by  a  correspondent  of  the  Southern  Field  and  Fireside  :  I 
will  give  you  my  plan  of  planting  and  culture  of  beets.  In 
the  first  place  I  have  my  ground  broken  up  deeply  ;  then  I 
have  the  ground  covered  over  with  stable  manure ;  have  it 
ploughed  in  tolerably  deep ;  level  the  ground  with  a  hoe  or 
rake  ;  hen-house  manure  is  scattered  over  the  ground  ;  hoe 
it  in  deep  with  a  grubbing-hoe ;  level  it  again ;  lay  off  the 


376 

rows  eighteen  inches  apart,  and  the  hills  one  foot  apart; 
and  then  they  will  grow  without  any  trouble.  In  cultivat- 
ing them  I  have  the  grass  and  weeds  cut  up  between  the 
rows.  I  have  raised  beets  on  the  above  plan  that  weighed 
five  and  six  pounds  apiece. 

It  has  been  observed  that  beets  containing  sugar  fre- 
quently underwent  a  change  during  winter,  by  which  the 
sugar  entirely  disappeared,  and  "was  replaced  by  saltpetre." 
Chaptal.  See,  also,  paper  by  Prof.  Leconte,  of  the  South 
Carolina  College,  on  mode  of  formation  of  nitre  beds;  also, 
consult  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Mines, 
article  "Nitrate  of  Potash." 


Coccoloba  uvifera,  Jacq.  Sea-grape.  South  Florida,  along 
the  coast.     Chapman. 

C.  Floridana  also  grows  in  Florida.  The  fruit  of  some, 
though  very  astringent,  is  eaten  by  the  natives;  and  the 
wood  of  the  tallest  and  bulkiest  is  used  as  timber.  Wil- 
son's Rural  Cyc. 

Menispermace^e.     [The  Coeculus  Tribe.) 

Menispermum  Canadense,  L.  Moon-seed;  yellow  parilla ; 
yellow  sarsaparilla.  Ell.  never  saw  it,  but  thinks  that  it 
grows  in  the  mountains.  Dr.  Gray  determines  a  specimen 
sent  from  St.  John's,  Charleston  district,  by  H.  W.  Ravenel, 
Esq.,  to  be  this.     Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1275.  It  is  said  to  be  much  used  in  Virginia 
by  physicians ;  and  in  domestic  practice,  as  a  substitute  for 
sarsaparilla,  in  scrofulous  and  cutaneous  affections.  Ryd- 
del,  in  his  Synops.  West.  States,  says  that  the  roots  are 
tonic,  alterative,  and  diuretic.  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  103.  It 
is  also  employed  by  the  vegetable  practitioners.  See  How- 
ard's Imp.  Syst.  Bot.  Med.  334.  Said  to  be  laxative  and 
tonic,  and  used  in  debility  and  in  giving  tone  to  the  stomach 
and  nervous  system. 


377 


Pyrolaceje.     [The  Winter-green  Tribe.) 

Chimaphilamaculata,~Pursh..  |    Spotted  winter-green.  Pip- 

Pyrola,  "  Linn,  jsissewa.     Shaded  soils ;  dif- 

fused; collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston; 
ISTewbern. 

Chap.  Therap.  and  Mat.  Med.  i,  313;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med. 
ii,  321;  Ell.  Bot,  Med.  Notes,  505;  Eat.  Man.  Bot.  240; 
Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  128;  Mitchell's  Inaug.  Thesis,  1803;  Ed. 
andVav.  Mat.  Med.  320;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii, 
380;  U.  S.  Disp.  208;  Bart.  Collec.  ii,  21;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst. 
Bot.  219;  TT.  S.  Disp.  207;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  281. 
See  P.  umbellata.  "Ev€ry  part  of  the  plant  is  possessed  of 
considerable  activity;"  and  it  is  very  valuable  as  a  diuretic 
in  dropsy.  See  Mitchell's  Thesis,  and  Dr.  Summerville's 
paper  in  Lond.  Med.  Chirurg.  Trans,  vol.  v.  It  is  particu- 
larly useful  in  those  cases  attended  with  disordered  diges- 
tion and  general  debility,  for  in  these  its  tonic  properties 
and  general  acceptability  to  the  stomach  prove  highly  use- 
ful auxiliaries  to  its  diuretic  powers.  It  has  been  success- 
fully administered  in  ascites,  in  dysuria  and  ischuria,  gravel, 
strangury,  hematuria,  acute  rheumatism,  and  in  various 
intermittent  disorders.  The  Indians  considered  it  of  uni- 
versal efficacy;  but  employed  it  particularly  in  nephritic, 
scrofulous,  and  rheumatic  disorders.  Dr.  "Wood,  in  the  U. 
S.  Disp.,  states  that  it  does  prove  of  benefit  in  obstinate, 
ill-conditioned  ulcers,  and  cutaneous  eruptions  supposed  to 
be  connected  with  a  strumous  diathesis:  used  both  inter- 
nally, and  locally  as  a  wash.  The  decoction  and  watery 
extract  are  employed. 

In  our  present  need  for  tonics  and  diuretics,  in  dropsy,  or 
swelling  following  low  and  protracted  fevers  among  our 
soldiers,  no  plant  will  be  found  more  serviceable  than  the 
pipsissevva.  It  is  aromatic,  tonic,  and  diuretic.  It  can  be 
easily  collected  around  our  camps,  in  shady  woods,  in  al- 
most every  part  of  our  Confederacy. 

The  black  alder  (Alnus  serrulata)  is  an  astringent  diuretic. 
The  catkins  or  flowerets,  dissolved  in  whiskey,  is  a  domestic 


378 

remedy  in  South  Carolina  —  relied  on  by  many,  Dr.  B.. 
Moore  informs  me,  in  gonorrhoea  in  place  of  copaiba.  Pills 
of  pine  gum  are  given  together  with  it.  The  C.  umbellata, 
pipsissewa,  grows  in  North  Carolina,  and  northward. 

Chimaphila  umbellata,  Nutt.  North  Carolina,  and  north- 
ward. 

Both  the  C.  umbellata  and  maculata  are  used.  Dr.  Thomp- 
son says  of  the  P.  umbellata:  "It  is  diuretic  and  tonic.  It 
has  been  given  successfully  in  ascites,  after  digitalis  and 
other  diuretics  had  failed;  and  has  also  proved  serviceable 
in  acute  rheumatism  and  intermittents.  It  produces  an 
agreeable  sensation  in  the  stomach  soon  after  it  is  swal- 
lowed; increases  the  appetite,  and  acts  powerfully  on  the 
kidneys."     The  whole  plant  is  decocted. 

One  of  these  plants  may  be  used  extemporaneously  in 
our  camps  for  its  combined  tonic  and  diuretic  properties, 
associated  with  astringency.  Its  uses  consequently  are 
obvious  in  the  convalescence  from  fevers.  It  can  be  found 
in  high  woods  near  almost  every  locality  where  a  regiment 
is  pitched.  See  "  Eupatoriwn"  "Persimmon,"  "Dog- 
wood," etc. 

In  a  pamphlet  issued  from  the  Surgeon-General's  office, 
it  is  stated  that  the  C.  umbellata  "should  not  be  gathered, 
as  it  is  inferior."  The  decoction  of  either  plant  is  made 
with  the  bruised  herb  one  ounce,  water  three  half-pints; 
boil  to  one  pint;  one  pint  to  be  given  in  the  twenty-four 
hours,  in  divided  doses.  Pereira  refers  to  both  species  as 
being  useful.  I  have  found  the  spotted  winter-green  valu- 
able as  a  tonic  diuretic. 

Pyrola  rotundifolia.  Grows  in  South  Carolina.  See  Chi- 
maphila. 

MONOTROPACE^!. 

Monotropa  uniflora.  Fit-root.  Grows  in  roads ;  attached 
to  roots;  collected  in  St.  John's;  Newbern. 

This  is  used  by  the  steam  practitioners.  See  Ploward's 
Impr.  Syst.  Bot.  Med.  339. 


379 

Ericaceae.     (The  Heath  Tribe.) 
Generally  astringent  and  diuretic. 

Andromeda  mariana,  L.  Dry  soils.  Richland;  vicinity 
of  Charleston.     Fl.  May  and  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1238,  App.;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med. 
i,  289;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  84;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  156.  It  is 
employed  in  domestic  practice;  a  remedy  for  herpes.  The 
decoction  is  used  as  a  stimulating  wash  for  ulcers  and 
ground  itch,  to  which  negroes  are  liable.  The  honey  which 
bees  extract  from  this  is  slightly  poisonous.  See  Nichol- 
son's Journal,  163. 

Andromeda  nitidi,  Walt.  Grows  in  damp,  pine  land,  bogs ; 
collected  in  St.  John's ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  April. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  483.  A  decoction  of  the  leaves 
of  this  also  is  used  in  the  cure  of  itch.  The  young  branches, 
deprived  of  their  pith,  form  good  pipe-stems,  see  Cliftonia; 
and  the  bark,  with  copperas,  yields  a  purple  dye.  Upon 
examination  I  find  that  the  leaves  contain  a  great  deal  of 
tannin.  See  " Liquidambar,"  sweet-gum,  for  detail  of  ex- 
periments. 

Andromeda  arborea,  L.         l    Sour-wood,  sorrel  tree;  clif- 
Oxydendron arbor enm, D.C.  j  fused;   grows   in   upper   dis- 
tricts.    I  collected  it  in  St.  John's,  and  Spartanburg  district, 
S.  C. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1227.  The  leaves,  when  chewed,  allay  thirst. 
A  decoction  of  the  bark  and  leaves  is  also  given  as  a  tonic. 

Andromeda  speciosa,  Mich.    Vicinity  of  Charleston.    Bach. 
U.  S.  Disp.  1228.     It  is  said  to  be  a  powerful  errhine. 

Andromeda  angustifolia,  Ph.     Vicinity  of  Charleston. 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  223.     This  and  the  A.  mariana  are 
said  to  be  poisonous  to  sheep. 

Clethra  alnifolia,  L.  (C.  tomentosa,  Lam.)  Abundant  in 
wet  pine  lands  and  swamps  throughout  the  Confederate 
States. 


880 

Upon  careful  examination  with  reagents  of  the  leaves  of 
the  plant,  I  find  tannin  in  great  amount.  I  recommend  it 
with  the  leaves  of  sweet-gum,  myrtle,  etc.,  as  a  substitute 
for  oak  bark  in  tanning  leather.  See  "  IAquidambar  "  for 
detail  of  experiments. 

Gaultheria  procumbens,  Ph.  Spicy  winter-green ;  par- 
tridge-berry ;  mountain-berry.  Grows  in  the  mountains  of 
South  Carolina,  Dr.  MacBride ;  ISTewbern.     Fl.  May. 

U.  S.  Disp.  345 ;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  29 ;  Lind.  Nat. 
Syst.  Bot.  221 ;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  i,  178 ;  Kalm,  Amcen.  Acad, 
iii,  14 ;  Bart.  Collec.  i,  19 ;  Raf.  Med.  Fl.  i,  202 ;  Griffith, 
Med.  Bot.  425.  It  possesses  stimulant  aromatic  properties, 
united  with  astringency;  hence  used  with  advantage  in 
some  forms  of  chronic  dysentery.  It  is  said  to  have  also 
some  anodyne  power.  The  infusion  of  the  leaves  has  been 
found  beneficial  in  amenorrhcea.  attended  with  debility, 
and  in  promoting  the  mammary  secretion  when  deficient. 
In  the  Revolutionary  war  it  was  used  as  a  substitute  for 
tea.  The  berries,  which  are  aromatic  and  pleasant,  are 
employed  to  flavor  spirituous  liquors.  An  infusion  of  them 
in  brandy  is  a  convenient  and  useful  substitute  for  the  ordi- 
nary bitters.  An  essential  oil  is  obtained  from  the  leaves 
by  distillation.  From  Mr.  Procter's  examination  (Am. 
Journal  Pharm.  viii,  211 ;  and  ix,  241)  it  is  shown  to  pos- 
sess acid  properties,  and  to  have  the  same  composition  as 
the  salitilate  of  methylene.  It  is  one  of  the  heaviest  of  the 
essential  oils,  having  a  specific  gravity  1.173,  with  a  burn- 
ing, aromatic  taste,  mixing  with  alcohol  or  ether  in  all 
proportions.  This  is  found  also  in  the  Betula  lenta,  some  of 
the  Spiraeas,  etc.  It  is  applied  with  good  effect  to  diminish 
the  sensibility  of  nerves  affected  by  carious  teeth,  and  to 
disguise  the  taste  and  smell  of  nauseous  medicines. 

Rhododendron  maximum,  L.  Mountain  laurel;  wild  rose- 
bay.     Grows  among  the  mountains.     Fl.  July. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  221.  "It  is  well  known  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  poisonous  properties."     Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de 


381 

M.  Med,  vi,  75.  Employed  with  success  in  chronic  rheu- 
matism, gout,  and  glandular  enlargements.  The  petioles 
act  as  a  sternutatory.  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  526;  Big.  Am. 
Med.  Bot.  iii,  103.  It  is  a  resinous  astringent,  its  leaves 
containing  tannin ;  but  its  supposed  poisonous,  narcotic 
power  is  doubted  by  some,  as  Bigelow  swallowed  an  entire 
leaf,  and  no  bad  effects  resulted.  B.  S.  Barton,  however, 
in  his  Collections,  i,  18,  says  it  is  certainly  poisonous.  The 
brown  powder  attached  to  the  foot-stalks  possesses  consid- 
erable power  as  an  errhine.  The  purple  variety,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful,  grows  in  South  Carolina. 

A  writer  under  the  signature  of  "Cunio"  commmuni- 
cates  the  following  to  the  "Atlanta  Commonwealth,''  1861: 
"  Wood  for  engraving. — Upon  the  authority  of  Mr.  Charles 
Foster,  long  known  as  a  wood  engraver  at  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee, many  years  since,  I  can  state  that  the  wood  of  the 
maximum  or  mountain  laurel,  as  well  as  its  confrere,  Kalmia 
latifolia,  known  by  every  farmer  as  poison  ivy,  are  equalled 
only  by  the  best  boxwood,  the  former  of  which  abounds 
on  every  mountain  from  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  to  North 
Georgia  that  has  a  rocky  branch."  I  had  reported  the  K. 
latifolia  in  my  Sketch  of  the  Medical  Botany  of  South  Car- 
olina, as  "possessing  a  wood  much  used  for  mechanical 
purposes,  being  hard  and  dense."  See  Amelanchier  for  sub- 
stitutes for  boxwood,  which  is  costly. 

Rhododendron  punctatum,  L.  and  Ph.  Grows  at  the  head 
branches  of  rivers  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia;  "Tugo- 
loo  branches  of  the  Savannah."     Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  75  ;  Griffith,  Med. 
Bot.  428.  A  stimulant  and  astringent.  Michaux  says  it 
furnishes  to  bees  a  deleterious  honey. 

Kalmia  latifolia,  L.  Calico  bush ;  ivy  bush.  Grows 
along  rivers  in  upper  districts ;  Richland,  Gibbes ;  at  Sis- 
ter's ferry,  Savannah  river;  Aiken,  S.  C.     Fl.  July. 

Drayton's  View  of  South  Carolina,  69  ;  Ell.  Bot.  i,  481 ; 
U.   S.  Disp.   1269;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.   i,   133;   Kalm's 


382 

Travels,  i,  335;  Barton's  Coll.  i,  18,  48;  and  ii,  26;  Thach- 
er's  Disp.  247;  Thomas'  Inaug.  Diss.,  Raf.  ii,  16;  Griffith, 
Med.  Bot.  528.  The  leaves  are  poisonous  and  narcotic, 
and  animals  have  been  poisoned  by  eating  them.  It  is 
said  that  death  has  been  occasioned  by  eating  the  flesh  of 
partridges  and  pheasants  that  had  fed  on  them.  Dr.  Shoe- 
maker publishes  two  cases ;  see  1ST.  Am.  Med.  and  Surg. 
Journal.  Thomas,  in  Inaug.  Diss.  Phil.  1802,  reports  cases 
of  obstinate  diarrhoea  cured  by  a  decoction,  thirty  drops 
being  taken  four  times  a  day.  The  leaves  have  been  ad- 
vantageously used  in  syphilis,  and  extensively  applied  in 
tinea,  psora,  and  cutaneous  affections.  Dr.  Barton  states 
that  nervous  symptoms  have  resulted  from  the  external  use 
of  the  strong  decoction,  thirty  drops  taken  internally  six 
times  a  day  producing  vertigo.  Dr.  Bigelow  detected  in 
the  leaves  tannin,  a  resinous  matter,  and  gum.  Besides 
these,  Dr.  Stabler  finds  a  volatile  oil  of  a  narcotic  odor 
and  nauseous  smell,  supposed  to  be  the  active  principle  : 
see  Am.  Journal  of  Pharm.  x,  241 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot. 
428.  From  these  experiments  of  Dr.  S.  he  determines  it 
to  be  a  direct  arterial  sedative,  without  any  acrid  or  nar- 
cotic property ;  hence  he  supposes  it  suitable  to  cases  of 
hypertrophy  of  heart,  and  other  diseases,  when  it  is  neces- 
sary to  decrease  the  action  of  that  organ ;  and  from  the 
tannin  present  that  it  is  peculiarly  fitted  for  cases  of  hem- 
orrhage, dysentery,  etc.  He  proposes  that  two  ounces  of 
the  leaves  be  macerated  in  a  pint  of  alcohol  for  a  week, 
and  then  strained,  the  dose  of  which  for  an  adult  is  thirty 
drops  every  two  or  three  hours.  If  these  observations  are 
confirmed  it  will  give  the  plant  a  high  reputation  as  a 
sedative,  and  attention  is  invited  to  it.  The  wood  is  much 
used  for  mechanical  purposes,  being  hard  and  dense. 

Kalmia  hirsuta,  Walt.  Grows  in  wet  pine  barrens ;  vi- 
cinity of  Charleston.     PI.  July. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  483.  The  leaves  are  used  by 
negroes,  and  the  poorer  white  people,  as  a  cure  for  itch,  and 
for  the  mange  in  dogs.     A  strong  decoction   is  applied 


383 

warm  to  the  eruptions,  which  occasions  much .  smarting ; 
and  it  seldom  requires  more  than  one  application  to  effect 
a  cure. 

Kalmia  angustifolia,  L.  Sheep  laurel.  Barren  hills ;  upper 
districts.     Chapman. 

The  leaves  of  the  Kalmia  (angustifolia  ?)  exude  a  sweet, 
honey-like  juice,  which  is  said  when  swallowed  to  bring 
on  a  mental  intoxication  both  formidable  in  its  symptoms 
and  long  in  its  duration  (Torrey).  In  this  it  appears 
closely  to  resemble  the  Armenian  azalea  (Johnston's  Chem- 
istry of  Common  Life,  vol.  ii,  p.  157).  About  Long  Island 
the  K  angustifolia  is  believed  to  kill  sheep,  and  is  known 
by  the  name  of  sheep  poison.  The  Azalea  pontica,  a  kin- 
dred shrub,  is  said  to  be  the  source  of  the  narcotic  quality 
for  which  the  Trebizond  honey  is  famous. 


VaccinacejE.'     (The  Bilberry  Tribe.) 

Bark  and  leaves  are  astringent,  slightly  tonic,  and  stimu- 
lating. 


Vaccinium  macrocarpon.  Ait.  (Oxycoccos.)  American  cran- 
berry.    Grows  in  North  Carolina,  and  northward. 

The  cranberry,  useful  for  their  ascescent,  cooling  proper- 
ties, for  making  pies,  etc.,  are  now  exported  to  Europe,  and 
they  are  said  to  bring  eight  dollars  a  bushel  in  the  London 
market,  as  they  are  easily  transported  without  suffering 
from  the  voyage.  They  are  cultivated  on  boggy  or  swampy 
land,  sand  being  thrown  over  it  to  kill  the  grass.  There  is 
a  communication  in  the  Patent  Office  Reports,  1857,  on  the 
mode  of  cultivation  of  the  plant.  Cranberries  may  be  pre- 
served perfect  for  several  years  merely  by  drying  them  a 
little  in  the  sun,  and  then  putting  them  up  closely  in  clean 
bottles.  They  also  keep  well  in  fresh  water.  The  red- 
fruited  variety  yields  a  juice  which  has  been  employed  to 
stain  paper  or  linen  purple. 


384 

Vaccinium  arboreum,  Marsh.  Farcle-berry.  Grows  in 
damp  soils;  diffused;  collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of 
Charleston.     Fl.  May. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  496;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  431. 
The  bark  of  the  root  is  very  astringent,  and  is  employed  in 
diarrhoea  and  bowel  complaints.  The  leaves  also  are  astrin- 
gent, and  a  decoction,  as  tea,  is  given  in  diarrhoea  and  dys- 
entery, and  as  a  wash  in  sore  mouth;  the  fruit  is  more 
palatable,  and  equally  as  efficacious.  The  bark  is  also  used 
for  tanning.  The  root  and  bark  are  very  much  used  as  an 
astringent  in  Sumter  district,  S.  C,  given  in  the  form  of 
tea  to  children  affected  with  diarrhoea  from  teething,  simply 
because  it  contains  tannin,  I  suppose,  like  the  chinquapin, 
oak  bark,  etc.  It  is  very  much  relied  upon.  The  root  is 
sometimes  stewed  in  milk  and  given  in  the  same  way. 
Most  of  the  species  possess  qualities  similar  to  this  one. 
Some  of  those  in  South  Carolina  bear  fruit  very  pleasant  to 
the  taste,  and  are  generally  known  as  huckleberries.  I  re- 
gard the  wood  as  uncommonly  hard  and  close. 

Primulace^.     (The  Primrose  Tribe.) 

More  remarkable  for  beauty  and  fragrance  than  for  their 
sensible  properties. 

Anagallis  arvensis,  L.  Red  chickweed;  scarlet  pimpernel. 
Nat.  on  Sullivan's  island.  Collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley. 
Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1227;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  i,  80;  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  276;  Orfila,  Toxicologic,  ii,  275;  Woodv. 
Med.  Bot.;  Mem.  Acad.  Royale  de  Med.  18  Mars.  aim.  1826. 
The  flowers  close  at  the  approach  of  rain,  and  occasions  the 
plant  to  be  called  the  "poor-man's  weather-glass."  Rural 
Cyc._ 

This  plant  enjoyed  great  reputation  at  one  time,  and  was 
said  to  possess  sudorific,  vulnerary,  antiepileptic,  and  anti- 
hydrophobic  virtues.  Woodville  states  that  it  is  acrid  and 
poisonous.  It  was  considered  very  valuable  for  the  bite  of 
serpents,  but  more  particularly  in  hydrophobia,  given  in 


385 

the  form  of  powder  in  doses  of  two  drachms.  See  the  re- 
port to  the  Econ.  Soc.,  Berne;  Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  ii,  124. 
Milne,  in  his  Ind.  Bot.  260,  asserts  that  it  was  frequently 
successful  even  after  dangerous  symptoms  had  supervened; 
and  the  great  Hoffman  himself  yielded  to  this  opinion.  It 
"really  possesses  highly  energetic  powers,  for  Oriila  de- 
stroyed a  dog  by  making  him  drink  three  drachms  of  the 
extract."  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  224.  It  is  used  as  a  local 
application  in  ill-conditioned  ulcers,  and  internally  in  vis- 
ceral obstructions,  dropsy,  epilepsy,  and  mania. 

Samolus  valerandi,  L.  Brookweed.  Vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton ;  grows  in  morasses ;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Charleston 
district.     Fl.  June. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  201;  Journal  Gen. 
de  Med.  lii,  413;  Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  ii,  121.  Lemery  says 
it  is  an  antiscorbutic,  aperient,  and  vulnerary. 

Sapotace^e.     (The  Sapotilla  Tribe.) 

Bumelia  lycioides,1£\\.$k..  Ironwood.  Vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton, Bach;  very  rare  in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  a  tree  on  Sa- 
razin  PL  (Mrs.  I.  S.  Porcher's).     PI.  June. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  441.  The  bark  is  said  to  be  austere, 
and  to  be  useful  in  bowel  complaints.  The  tree  is  classed 
by  some,  with  the  persimmon,  under  the  "ebony  tribe" — 
the  wood  being  characterized  by  great  density  and  hard- 
ness. 

Ebenace,e.     (The  Ebony  Tribe.) 
Wood  generally  hard  and  black. 

Diospyros  Virginiana.  Persimmon.  Diffused ;  grows 
abundantly  in  both  upper  and  lower  districts.      Fl.  March. 

Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  259;  U.   S.  Disp.  302;  Ed.  and  Vav. 

Mat.  Med.  135;  Am.  Journal  Med.  Sc,  N.  S.  iv,  297;  Mer. 

and  deL.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  657;  Ann.  Chim.  de  Montp. 

xxiv,  247;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  510;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot. 

25 


386 

227;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  436.  An  astringent  and  styptic. 
The  inner  bark  is  used  in  intermittent  fever,  in  diarrhoea, 
and  with  alum  as  a  gargle  in  ulcerated  sore  throat.  The 
powdered  bark  can  be  used  wherever  an  astringent  is  re- 
quired. The  unripe  fruit  is  exceedingly  astringent;  em- 
ployed while  fresh,  or  dried  in  the  sun  and  powdered,  it  is 
very  valuable  in  diarrhoea,  chronic  dysentery,  and  uterine 
hemorrhage.  It  forms  a  convenient  and  useful  prescription 
for  those  residing  in  the  country,  made  into  pills  or  in  the 
shape  of  a  spirituous  tincture.  Mr.  B.  Smith  found  that  the 
green  fruit  contained  tannin,  sugar,  malic  acid,  and  woody 
fibre ;  the  first  disappears,  and  the  others  increase  as  it 
ripens.  (Am.  Journal  Pharm.  xii,  157.)  The  juice,  in  the 
unripe  state,  is  said  to  be  preferable  to  oak  bark  for  tan- 
ning ;  and  a  black  dye  may  be  extracted  from  it.  The  fruit, 
when  matured,  is  very  sweet  and  pleasant  to  the  taste,  and 
yields  on  distillation  after  fermentation  a  quantity  of 
spirits;  a  beer  is  made  of  it,  and  mixed  with  flour,  a  pleas- 
ant bread.  I  have  used  the  wood  for  engraving.  Every 
tree  of  slow  growth  seems  to  me  to  have  a  dense  and  hard 
wood,  because  the  rings  are  close  together,  though  the  con- 
sistence of  the  interspaces  varies  in  different  plants.  See 
"Amelanchier."  Persimmon  bark  with  iron  yields  a  dye,  the 
color  depending  on  the  mordant  used.  See  "  Rhus  ;"  also 
Treatises  on  Calico  printing  and  on  Dyeing,  Ure's  Diet,  of 
Arts  and  Manufactures,  and  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  Processes 
are  there  described.  Upon  testing  for  tannin  the  leaves  of 
the  persimmon  I  find  very  little,  but  a  great  deal  in  the  un- 
ripe fruit.  See  detail  of  experiments  under  sweet-gum, 
"  Liquidambar." 

I  am  informed  by  a  friend  that  the  persimmon  makes  a 
particularly  fine  brandy.  He  tells  me  that  a  variety  of 
persimmons  are  occasionally  met  with  in  Sumter  district, 
S.  C,  with  fruit  almost  twice  the  size  of  the  ordinary 
plant.  I  have  known  of  a  large-fruited  variety  from 
Cooper  river  also.  They  were  found  near  Claremont  and 
the  river.  Ale,  also,  can  be  made  with  the  different  species 
of  gentian,  and  in  England  they  use  G.  lutea  and  purpurea 


387 

as  substitutes  for  hops.     The  persimmon  should  be  used  in 
camps  as  an  astringent.     See  "  Castanea" 

To  make  Persimmon  Seer. — Gather  the  persimmons  per- 
fectly ripe  and  free  from  any  roughness.  Work  them  into 
large  loaves  with  bran  enough  to  make  them  consistent ; 
bake  them  so  thoroughly  that  the  cake  may  be  brown  and 
dry  throughout,  but  not  burned.  They  are  then  lit  for 
use.  But  if  you  keep  them  any  time  it  will  be  necessary 
to  dry  them  frequently  in  an  oven  moderately  warm.  Of 
these  loaves  broken  into  a  coarse  powder,  take  eight  bush- 
els. Pour  on  them  forty  gallons  of  cold  water,  and  after 
two  or  three  days  draw  it  off;  boil  it  as  other  beer,  adding 
a  little  hops.  This  makes  a  very  strong  beer.  See  Thorn- 
ton's Southern  Gardener,  p.  138.  W.  Gilmore  Simms,  Esq. 
writes  me  word  that  the  persimmon  beer  manufactured  in 
Orangeburg  district,'  S.  C,  by  the  Hon.  J.  M.  Felder, 
equalled  the  best  sparkling  "Jersey  Champagne."  The 
latter  is  generally  made  of  apples,  and  is  a  species  of  car- 
bonated cider.  See  "Apples,"  "Hops,"  "Sassafras,"  for 
method  of  manufacturing  useful  liquors. 

The  following,  from  the  Southern  Cultivator,  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Charleston  Mercury : 

Persimmon  Beer. — The  best  persimmons  ripen  soft  and 
sweet,  having  a  clear,  thin,  transparent  skin,  without  any 
rough  taste.  A  good  ripe  persimmon  is  a  delicious  morsel; 
most  animals  fatten  on  them;  the  chicken,  duck,  turkey, 
goose,  dog,  hog,  sheep,  and  cow,  all  eat  them  greedily. 
The  fruit,  when  mashed  and  strained  through  a  coarse 
wire  sieve,  makes  delightful  bread,  pies,  and  pudding. 
When  kneaded  with  wheat  bran,  and  well  baked  in  an 
oven,  the  bread  may  be  put  away  for  winter  use  in  making 
beer,  and  used  when  wanted. 

The  following  is  one  of  the  very  best  receipts  for  making 
the  beer:  sweet  ripe  persimmons,  mashed  and  strained, 
one  bushel;  wheat  bran,  one  half-bushel.  Mix  well  to- 
gether, and  bake  in  loaves  of  convenient  size ;  break  them 
in  a  clean  barrel,  and  add  twelve  gallons  of  water  and 
two  or  three  ounces  of  hops.     Keep  the  barrel  in  a  warm 


388 

room.  As  soon  as  fermentation  subsides,  bottle  off  the 
beer,  having  good  long  corks,  and  place  the  bottles  in  a 
low  temperature,  and  it  will  keep  and  improve  for  twelve 
months.  This  beer,  when  properly  made,  in  a  warm  room, 
is  an  exquisitely  delightful  beverage,  containing  no  alcohol, 
and  is  to  the  connoisseur  of  temperate  taste  not  inferior  to 
the  fermented  juice  of  the  vine. 

The  ordinary  way  of  making  it  is  more  simple,  and  the 
drink  is  relished  heartily  by  most  persons:  a  layer  of 
straw  is  put  in  the  bottom  of  the  cask,  on  which  a  suf- 
ficient quantity  of  fruit,  well  mashed,  is  laid,  and  the  cask 
then  filled  with  water.  It  should  stand  in  a  warm  room, 
and  if  the  weather  is  cold,  fermentation  will  be  promoted 
by  occasionally  putting  a  warm  brick  or  stone  in  the  barrel. 
The  addition  of  a  few  honey  locusts,  roasted  sweet  po- 
tatoes, or  apple  peelings,  will  make  the  beer  more  brisk. 
Wheat  bran  always  improves  the  quality. 

A  syrup  made  with  unripe  persimmons  boiled  in  sugar 
is  recommended  as  a  portable  and  useful  astringent  to  be 
used  by  our  soldiers  in  camp  to  prevent  dysenteries  and 
diarrhoeas. 

(1862).  The  ripe  fruit  of  the  persimmon.  May-apples, 
figs,  etc.,  are  also  useful  with  a  basis  of  molasses  or  honey 
in  making  vinegar. 

Hopea  linctoria,  L.  Sweet-leaf.  Diffused ;  grows  spar- 
ingly in  the  low  country  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach.; 
collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  Ward  swamp;  Newborn. 
Fl.  May. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  437.  The  root  is  esteemed  a  valuable 
stomachic.  Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  177.  Its  leaves  afford 
a  yellow  dye;  they  are  sweet  and  pleasant  to  the  taste,  and 
are  eaten  by  cattle.  Major  J.  Le  Conte  informs  me  that 
the  leaves  and  root  are  much  used  in  Georgia,  in  syphilitic 
and  scrofulous  affections.  This  does  not  seem  to  be  the 
genus  Hopea  belonging  to  the  order  .Dipteracece,  which  fur- 
nishes such  valuable  resins. 


389 


StyracacEjE.     (Styrax  Tribe.) 

Styrax.  Several  species  grow  in  the  Confederate  States, 
but  none  are  medicinal,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain.  It  is 
well  known  that  storax  and  benzoin  are  furnished  by  some 
of  them. 

Symplocas  tincloria,  L'Her.  Low  woods  and  banks  of 
streams.    Florida  to  North  Carolina  and  westward.   (Chap). 

The  dyer's  or  laurel-leaved  species,  under  the  name  of 
sweet-leaf,  is  used  for  yielding  a  yellow  dye.    Rural  Cyc. 

AquifoliacEuE.     (The  Holly  Tribe). 
These  are  generally  astringent. 

Prinos  verticillatus,  L.  Black  alder;  winter-berry.  Damp 
soils.     Fl.  May. 

U.  S.  Disp.  874 ;  Wild.  Spec.  Plantaruin,  275 ;  Mer  and 
de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  v,  15 ;  Barton's  Med.  Bot.  i,  203. 
The  berries  and-  bark  are  tonic  and  astringent,  and  are  used 
in  intermittent  fevers,  diarrhoeas,  and  diseases  connected 
with  a  debilitated  state  of  the  system,  especially  gangrene 
and  mortification.  It  is  a  popular  remedy  in  ill-conditioned 
ulcers,  chronic  cutaneous  diseases,  administered  internally, 
and  locally  as  a  wash.  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  229.  "  The 
bark  and  berries  possess  in  an  eminent  degree  the  proper- 
ties of  the  vegetable  astringents  and  tonics,  combined  with 
antiseptic  powers  highly  spoken  of."  They  are  extensively 
prescribed  in  some  parts  of  the  country  in  diarrhoea,  and 
as  a  corroborant  in  dropsy.  The  leaves  are  employed  as  a 
substitute  for  tea.  The  plant  was  used  by  the  Indians.  It 
may  be  taken  in  substance,  in  doses  of  thirty  grains  to  a 
drachm,  to  be  repeated,  or  a  decoction  made  with  two 
ounces  of  the  bark  to  three  pints  of  water,  of  which  three 
ounces  may  be  taken  several  times  a  day.  A  saturated 
tincture  of  the  bark  and  berries  has  also  been  used. 
Bigelow  did  not  speak  highly  of  this  plant,  but  W.  P.  C. 
Barton   extols  it,    and  recommends   it  to  the  profession, 


390 

having  employed  it  on  several  occasions.  Dr.  Meara,  in 
the  Phil.  Med.  Museum  ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  434 ;  Coxer9 
Am.  Disp.  500. 

Prinos  glaber,  L.  Inkberry.  Grows  in  damp  soils,  along 
bays;  Richland  district;  collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl.  May. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  229 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  vi,  53.  The  leaves  are  employed  as  a  tea.  The 
plant  probably  possesses  properties  similar  to  those  of  the 
other.  Upon  chemical  examination  I  find  very  little 
tannin  in  the  leaves.  See  sweet-gum  (Liquidambar)  for 
detail  of  experiments. 

Ilex  opaca,  L.  Holly.  Diffused ;  in  rich  soils ;  New- 
bern.     Fl.  May. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.'  432;  U.  S.  Disp.  1263.  I  am 
informed  by  gentlemen  who  have  used  this  plant  that  the 
decoction  of  the  bark  of  the  root  has  been  found  very 
serviceable  as  a  demulcent  in  colds,  coughs,  and  incipient 
phthisis ;  and  by  Dr.  Joseph  Johnson,  of  Charleston,  that 
the  berries  are  serviceable  as  an  emetic.  It  is  asserted  by 
some  to  possess  properties  fully  equal  to  those  of  the  /. 
aquifolium  of  Europe,  the  inner  bark  of  which  also  yields  a 
viscid  substance  called  birdlime ;  its  leaves  are  esteemed  as 
a  diaphoretic  in  the  form  of  infusion  ;  employed  in  catarrh, 
pleurisy,  small-pox,  etc.  Its  febrifuge  virtues  are  supposed 
to  depend  on  a  bitter  principle,  ilicin,  and  the  berries  are 
considered  purgative,'  diuretic,  and  emetic.  The  good 
effects  resulting  from  the  use  of  the  I.  opaca,  in  diseases 
affecting  the  mucous  passages,  may  be  owing  to  the 
substance  contained  in  the  inner  bark.  Some  declare  that 
they  find  it  fully  as  efficient  in  intermittent  fevers  as  the 
Peruvian  bark.  As  an  emetic,  the  berries  are  said  to  be 
more  active  than  the  leaves. 

Birdlime  can  be  made  from  holly  and  mistletoe  ;  also 
from  elder.  The  bark  and  juice  are  used.  See  process 
described  in  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts  and  Manufactures, 
article  "Birdlime."    I  have  often  noticed  the  mucilaginous 


391 

taste  of  the  holly  root  {Ilex  opacd),  and  have  used  it, 
chewed,  for  colds  and  coughs.  It  is  also  a  pleasant,  agree- 
ahle  hitter,  mucilaginous  tonic.  It  is  extensively  employed 
i»i  this  way  by  many  persons  in  South  Carolina,  also  a  tea 
made  with  the  root.  I  would  particularly  recommend  the 
holly  root  as  an  .^article  for  the  relief  of  colds  and  coughs. 
It  increases  the  appetite,  and  is  a  tonic.  The  leaves  of  the 
Ilex  opaca,  like  the  Ilex  dahoon  and  Ilex  cassina,  are  used 
as  substitutes  for  green  tea.  See  Ilex  cassina. 
I  condense  the  following  from  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. : 
"  Birdlime  for  catching  birds,  mice,  and  other  vermin 
is  generally  made  from  the  middle  bark  of  the  holly, 
which  is  boiled  in  water  seven  or  eight  hours,  till  it 
becomes  soft  and  tender.  After  the  water  has  been 
drained  off  it  is  laid  in  masses  in  the  earth,  covered  with 
stones,  and  left  to  ferment  during  a  fortnight  or  three 
weeks.  When  thus  changed  into  a  kind  of  mucilage  it  is 
taken  from  the  pit,  pounded  in  mortars  until  reduced  to  a 
paste,  washed  and  kneaded  in  river  water  until  freed  from 
all  extraneous  matter.  It  is  left  in  earthen  vessels  four  or 
five  days  to  purify  itself  by  fermentation,  and  it  is  then 
put  up  for  use  or  commerce.  In  every  kingdom  or  dis- 
trict there  is  a  different  mode  of  preparing  this  substance. 
The  mode  employed  by  M.  Bouillon  Legrange  is  to  take  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  the  second  bark  of  the  green  prickly 
holly,  to  bruise  it  well,  and  boil  it  in  water  four  or  five 
hours ;  to  pour  off  the  water,  to  deposit  the  bark  in  pits  in 
earthen  pans,  to  moisten  it  from  time  to  time  with  a  little 
water,  to  let  it  remain  until  it  becomes  viscous,  and  to 
cleanse  it  by  washing  when  it  has  attained  a  proper  degree 
of  fermentation." 

Birdlime  may  be  procured  from  the  young  shoots  of  the 
common  elder  tree,  from  a  number  of  plants,  from  slugs, 
snails,  and  from  the  pods  of  certain  caterpillars.  The 
common  kind  of  birdlime  readily  loses  its  tenacious 
quality  when  long  exposed  to  the  air,  and  particularly 
when  subjected  to  moisture;  but  it  may  be  rendered 
capable  of  sustaining  the  action  of  water  by  the  following 


392 

process:  take  a  pound  of  common  birdlime  and  wash  it 
thoroughly  with  spring  water  till  its  hardness  be  de- 
stroyed ;  then  pound  it  completely,  that  its  water  may  be 
entirely  separated,  and  when  it  is  well  dried  put  it  into  an 
earthen  pot  with  as  much  goose  or  capon's  grease  as  will 
make  it  run.  Add  two  spoonfuls  of  strong  vinegar,  one 
of  oil,  and  a  small  quantity  of  Venice  turpentine,  and  let 
the  whole  boil  for  a  few  moments  over  a  moderate  fire, 
stirring  it  all  the  time.  It  is  then  ready  for  use ;  and  this 
is  the  only  kind  that  can  be  successfully  used  for  snipes 
and  other  birds  which  frequent  wet  situations.  When 
birdlime  is  to  be  applied  for  use  it  should  be  made  hot,  and 
the  rods  or  twigs  should  be  warmed  a  little  before  they 
are  dipped  in  it.  When  straws  or  cords  are  to  be  limed  it 
should  be  very  hot,  and  after  they  are  prepared  they 
should  be  kept  in  a  leather  bag  till  used.  In  order  to 
prevent  birdlime  from  being  congealed  by  cold  it  should 
be  mixed  with  a  little  oil  of  petroleum ;  and,  indeed, 
before  the  common  kind  can  be  used  at  all  it  must  be 
melted  over  the  fire  with  a  third  part  of  nut-oil  or  any 
thin  grease,  if  that  has  not  been  added  in  the  preparation. 
It  has  been  found  to  resemble  gluten  in  many  particulars, 
but  differs  from  it  essentially  in  the  acetous  acid  which  it 
contains ;  in  being  very  slightly  animalized ;  in  the  mucil- 
age and  extractive  matter  which  may  be  obtained  from  it; 
in  the  great  quantity  of  resin  which  it  yields  by  means  of 
nitric  acid;  and  in  its  solubility  in  ether.  See,  also, 
Wilson's  article  on  "Bird-catching"  for  the  various 
methods  of  ensnaring  game.  See  "  Yiscus  "  in  this  paper. 
Our  Ilex  opaca  is  said  to  resemble  closely  the  English 
holly  {I.  aquifolium).  It  has  a  hard,  white  wood,  with  a  fine 
grain.  Among  many  trees  and  plants  which  I  have  exam- 
ined, with  a  view  to  testing  their  relative  hardness,  I  do  not 
rank  the  holly  so  high  as  others.  The  English  holly  is  said 
by  Wilson  to  be  very  retentive  of  its  sap,  which  renders  it 
liable  to  warp  unless  well  dried ;  to  be  susceptible  of  a  high 
degree  of  polish,  which  renders  it  well  adapted  to  many 
purposes  in  the  arts.     It  readily  takes  a  durable  color  of  any 


393 

shade,  hence  used  by  cabinet-makers  in  forming  what  are 
technically  called  ''strings  and  borders"  in  ornamental 
works.  When  properly  stained  black,  its  color  and  lustre 
are  little  inferior  to  ebony.  It  ma}'  be  turned  to  a  great 
number  of  purposes  by  turners,  engineers,  cabinet-maker's, 
philosophical-instrument  makers,  and  others.  Next  to  box- 
wood, the  pear  tree  is  the  best  wood,  says  Wilson,  for  en- 
graving upon,  as  it  is  compact,  and  stands  the  tool  well. 
Rural  Cyc.  I  do  not  think  that  I  found  our  I.  ojmca  equal 
to  the  dogwood  for  the  purposes  of  the  engraver;  certainly 
when  green  it  yielded  to  the  graver's  tools  more  readily,  and 
was  not  so  hard. 

The  berries  of  the  English  holly  are  said  to  be  purgative, 
and  six  or  eight  of  them  swallowed  will  produce  violent 
vomiting ;  the  bark  is  said  to  be  febrifugal.      Op.  til. 

Ilex  cassina,  Mich.  ~i      Yaupoh  ;  cassina;  emetic- 

"  vomitoria,  L.  and  Ait.  j  holly;  grows  near  the  sea- 
coast;  Newbern.     Fl.  March. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  591 ;  see  I.  vomito- 
ria.  Linn.  Veg.  Mat.  Med.;  U.  S.  Disp.  1263,  App. ;  Grif- 
fith, Med.  Bot. ;  Ell.  8k.  of  Bot.  of  South  Carolina,  ii,  682. 
The  leaves  act  as  a  powerful  diuretic,  and  are  employed  in 
calculous,  nephritic  diseases,  diabetes,  gout,  and  small-pox. 
This  plant  is  said  also  to  act  as  a  mild  emetic.  (Mer.  and 
de  L.)  The  Indians  used  the  cold  infusion,  which  was 
called  the  black  drink,  and  which  was  said  to  enliven  them, 
in  the  place  of  opium.  The  Creeks  employed  it,  according 
to  Elliott,  at  the  opening  of  their  councils,  sending  to  the 
sea-coast  for  a  supply.  They  considered  it  one  of  their 
most  powerful  diuretics.  (Bart.  Coll.  38.)  The  inhabitants 
of  North  Carolina  purify  brackish  water  by  boiling  in  it 
Cassina  leaves. 

In  North  and  South  Carolina  much  use  is  made  of  the 
leaves  of  cassina  for  making  tea.  I  would  refer  the  reader 
to  the  Ceanothus  Americana,  New  Jersey  tea  tree.  The 
leaves  of  the  common  holly  [Ilex  opaca)  are  also  recom- 
mended by  some  as  a  substitute  for  tea;  and  I  would  call 


394 

attention  to  the  fact  that  the  famous  plant  used  so  exten- 
sively in  Paraguay,  Mate  or  Paraguay  tea,  is  an  Ilex  (L  Par- 
aguaiensis,  plants  of  which  have  been  introduced  by  Lieut. 
Page,  and  distributed.  See  a  notice  of  it  in  Patent  Office 
Reports,  1854,  p.  34,  and  1859,  p.  15.  Mate  is  univer- 
sally drunk  in  many  of  the  South  American  States,  and 
almost  fabulous  properties  are  attributed  to  it.  "It  is  un- 
questionably aperient  and  diuretic,  and  produces  effects 
very  similar  to  opium.  *  *  *  Like  that  drug,  however, 
it  excites  the  torpid  and  languid,  while  it  calms  the  restless 
and  induces  sleep."  I  have  little  doubt  but  that  great  re- 
semblance does  exist  between  this  and  the  kindred  plant, 
the  cassina,  from  which  also  was  prepared  a  "black  drink," 
which  was  used  by  the  Indians  of  North  America  in  their 
ceremonials.     The  mode  of  preparation  may  be  lost  to  us. 

The  Yaupon  is  sometimes  referred  to  as  I.  vomitoria.  The 
Indians  drank  it  very  strong,  and  in  copious  draughts,  at  a 
certain  period  of  the  year,  in  order  to  purify  themselves. 
It  acted  as  an  emetic.  The  Matt  of  Paraguay  is  not  iden- 
tical, says  a  recent  writer,  with  our  1.  cassina.  Lawson,  in 
his  account  of  this  plant,  in  his  Travels  in  Carolina  (pp. 
90,  91,  London,  1709),  celebrates  the  virtues  of  the  tea,  and 
gives  a  particular  account  of  the  mode  of  preparing  it. 
"This  plant  (the  Yaupon,  called  by  the  South  Carolina  In- 
dians Cassina),  is  the  Indian  tea,  used  and  approved  by  all 
the  savages  on  the  coast  of  Carolina,  and  from  them  sent  to 
the  westward  Indians,  and  sold  at  a  considerable  price." 
"The  savages  of  Carolina  bore  this  tea  in  veneration  above 
all  the  plants  they  are  acquainted  withal,"  p.  221.  "As  for 
purgings  and  emetics  they  never  apply  themselves  to,  unless 
in  drinking  vast  quantities  of  their  Yaupon  or  tea,  and 
vomiting  it  up  again,  as  clear  as  they  drink  it."  Croom, 
in  quoting  the  above,  adds  that  in  North  Carolina  it  is  still 
esteemed  a  useful  diaphoretic.  Notes  to  his  Catalogue,  p. 
45,  referred  to  as  I.  cassina,  of  Walter. 

The  preparation  of  Mate"  is  very  simple.  It  can  be  gath- 
ered during  the  whole  year.  It  is  collected  in  the  woods — 
"a  process  of  kiln-drying  is  resorted  to  upon  the  spot,  and 


395 

afterward  the  branches  and  leaves  are  transported  to  some 
rude  mill  and  powdered  in  mortars.  The  substance,  after 
this  operation,  .is  almost  a  powder,  though  small  stems,  de- 
nuded of  their  bark,  are  always  permitted  to  remain."  A 
small  quantity  of  the  leaf,  either  with  or  without  sugar,  is 
placed  in  a  common  bowl,  upon  which  cold  water  is  poured; 
after  standing  a  short  time,  boiling  water  is  added,  and  it  is 
at  once  ready  for  use.  It  must  be  imbibed  through  a  tube 
on  account  of  the  particles  of  leaf  and  stem  which  float 
upon  the  surface  of  the  liquid.  The  plant  is  not  cultivated. 
See,  also,  Ceanothus  and  Thea  viridis. 

Ilex  dahoon,  Walt.  Also  called  cassina.  Grows  in  swamps ; 
it  is  said  to  possess  properties  similar  to  those  of  the  I.  cas- 
sina. 

Ilex  myrtifolia,  Walt.  Grows  around  ponds,  in  flat,  pine 
barrens,  forty  miles  from  Charleston  ;  ISTewbern. 

Dr.  Joseph  Johnson,  of  Charleston,  informs  me  that  this 
is  used  to  some  extent  in  domestic  practice  in  South  Caro- 
lina, as  a  diuretic  in  dropsy. 

CuSCUTACEiE. 

Cuscuta  Americana,  Linn.  Dr.  Engleman,  of  St.  Louis, 
has  determined  that  we  have  not  the  C.  Am.  of  Linn.,  and 
he  has  substituted  three  distinct  species  which  are  found  in 
South  Carolina,  the  C.  compacta  and  cornuti  of  Choisey,  and 
C.  vulgivaga,  Engl.  Love-vine.  Grows  in  damp  soils ;  col- 
lected in  St.  John's;  Hewbern.     Fl.  June. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  527;  Flora  Med.  des 
Antilles,  ii,  334;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  485. 

This  is  said  to  be  laxative  and  hydragogue.  It  imparts 
a  yellow  dye  to  cloth.  The  vine  may  be  snapped  in  pieces, 
and  the  divisions  will  retain  a  separate  existence,  throwing 
out  new  tendrils,  and  reattaching  themselves  to  surround- 
ing objects. 


396 

Convolvulace^i.     ( The  Bindweed  Tribe.) 

An  acrid,  milky  juice  is  found  in  their  roots,  which  is 
strongly  purgative,  this  quality  depending  upon  a  peculiar 
resin,  which  is  the  active  principle  of  the  jalap,  the  seam- 
mony,  etc.,  plants  belonging  to  this  order. 

Ipomcea  nil,  Pursh.      |      Grows  in  dry  soil;,  vicinity  of 
Convolvulus, Sprengel.  /Charleston;  St.  John's;  Newbern. 

Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  409.     The  root  was 

employed  by  the  ancients  as  a  purgative. 

Convolvulus,  Ell.  Sk.  |  Wild  potato  vine  ;  found 

Ipomcea  panduratus,  of  late  bot.  J  in  dry  pine  barrens;  col- 
lected in  St.  John's,  Charleston  district,  where  it  grows 
abundantly;  Newbern. 

Coxe,  Am.  Dis.  226;  Barton's  Collec.  ii,  49;  Ell.  Bot. 
Med.  Notes,  i,  254;  XL  S.  Disp.  269;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet, 
de  M.  Med.  ii,  409;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  i,  252;  Griffith's 
Med.  Bot.  477.  The  root  is  diuretic,  and  in  the  form  of 
infusion,  is  said  to  be  very  serviceable  in  calculous  com- 
plaints. It  is  employed  with  great  success  by  Dr.  Harris, 
of  New  Jersey,  in  these  and  in  other  affections  as  a  substi- 
tute for  jalap  and  rhubarb;  Dr.  B.  S.  Barton  says  that  an 
extract  from  one  of  our  native  species  is  little  inferior  to 
scammony.     The  powder  or  the  decoction  may  be  used. 

Convolvulus  macrorrhizus,  Ell.   |      Vicinity  of  Charleston ; 

Ipomcea  of  Michaux.  /dry  soils. 

U.  S.  Disp.  408;  Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  253;  Mer.  and 
de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  406;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med. 
140.  This  is  thought  to  resemble  jalap.  De  Candolle  men- 
tions the  root  as  possessing  purgative  properties  (Essai); 
and  the  expressed  juice  was  said  to  be  very  active.  Lind. 
Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  231;  Flore  Med.  des  Antilles,  ii,  288.  Dr. 
Baldwin,  however,  was  of  the  opinion  that  it  possessed  very 
little  purgative  power.  It  is  said  to  contain  a  great  deal  of 
saccharine  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  farinaceous 
matter. 


397 

Convolvulus  Jfilapa. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  the  officinal  jalap 
may  be  obtained  from  plants  growing  within  the  limits  of 
the  Confederate  States,  but  late  researches  have  almost  dis- 
proved it.  See  XL  S.  Disp. ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med. 

Batatas  edulis,  Chois.  "»       Sweet  potato,  and  its  varie- 

Convolvulus  batatas,  Cult,    j  ties. 

This  valuable  plant  is  cultivated  to  a  large  extent  in  the 
Confederate  States,  and  great  use  is  made  of  the  root  as  an 
article  of  food.  It  may,  therefore,  not  be  out  of  place  to 
furnish  some  references  to  the  various  sources  of  informa- 
tion concerning  it  that  have  come  in  my  way.  A  large 
quantity  of  sago,  called  "Bowen's  patent  sago,"  was  made 
in  Georgia  from  the  potato,  particularly  by  Dr.  Bancroft, 
near  Savannah  The  roots  were  scraped  and  grated,  the 
pulp  was  then  mashed  through  sieves,  and  the  deposited 
flour  collected  and  dried  in  pans  either  by  fire  or  sunlight. 
See  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  The  root  is  used  as  an  article  of 
food  prepared  in  various  forms.  They  majr  be  grated  when 
raw  and  the  pulp  made  into  a  pudding;  they  are  sometimes 
eaten  roasted  or  boiled,  in  which  state,  with  wheat  flour,  a 
very  pleasant  bread  is  made  of  them.  On  the  plantations 
they  furnish  a  large  proportion  of  the  food  of  animals. 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  Supplem.  1846,  205.  See 
Depuy's  Memoire  sur  la  culture  de  la  patate,  Bordeaux, 
1801 ;  Lelieur  de  Ville-sur  Arce,  Mem.  sur  la  culture  de 
la  patate  et  du  ma'i's,  Paris ;  Gosse,  Culture  de  la  patate 
(Biblioth.  Univ.  de  Geneve,  iii,  1818);  Roberts'  Note  on 
the  culture  of  the  potato  in  the  Mem.  de  la  Soc.  Roy. 
dAgric.  1841;  Southern  Agriculturist,  Charleston,  passim. 

In  Patent  Office  Reports,  1854,  p.  169,  is  an  illustrated 
paper  on  the  Dioscorea  batatas,  or  Chinese  yam,  recom- 
mended as  a  substitute  for  the  potato.  See  Dioscorea 
villosa  in  this  volume. 

The  Cantharis  vittata,  or  blistering  fly,  can  be  found  on 
the  potato,  and  I  have  myself  produced  blistering  by  ap- 


398 

plying  them  to  the  hand.  I  collected  the  flies  from  vines 
growing  on  Daniel's  island  near  Charleston.  Mr.  Town- 
send  Glover,  in  a  valuable  paper  illustrated  with  wood-cuts 
in  Patent  Office  Reports,  1854,  page  59,  states  that  he  found 
a  species  of  cantharis,  C.  strigosa,  in  large  numbers  on  the 
cotton  plants  near  Columbia,  S.  C,  in  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember. I  have  little  doubt  that  the  Confederate  States 
could  be  easily  supplied  with  blistering  ointment  from 
these  flies. 

The  reader  interested  in  the  appearance,  nature,  and  his- 
tory of  the  "insects  injurious  and  beneficial"  to  plants 
and  vegetables,  is  referred  to  the  paper  cited.  Those  in- 
festing the  cotton  plant,  the  peach,  the  vine,  garden  vege- 
tables, etc.,  are  all  described.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Glover 
for  drawings  of  these.  See,  also,  Patent  Office  Reports,  p. 
88,  1855,  in  which  the  papers  are  continued. 

A  Substitute  for  Spanish  Flies.  —  The  present  scarcity  of 
Spanish  flies  for  medical  use  in  blister  plasters  makes  a 
proper  substitute  a  desideratum.  A  writer  in  the  Savan- 
nah Republican  says  we  have  in  this  country  many  repre- 
sentatives of  the  same  genus,  and  enumerates  the  blister- 
ing beetle,  or  potato  fly,  so  prevalent  in  our  gardens,  and 
so  injurious  to  vegetation,  as  efficacious.     He  says : 

The  blistering  plaster  and  Cantharides  of  medicine  are 
prepared  from  the  Spanish  flies,  Cantharis  vesicatoria,  which 
are  collected  in  Spain  and  Italy  in  large  quantities  for  ex- 
portation. We  have  in  North  America  many  representa- 
tives of  the  same  genus.  Several  species  have  been  used 
for  the  same  purpose,  and  in  this  immediate  neighborhood 
the  Cantharis  vitlata,  var,  striped  blistering  beetle,  com- 
monly called  the  potato  fly.  The  blistering  beetles  have 
been  enumerated  among  the  insects  directly  beneficial  to 
man,  on  account  of  the  important  use  made  of  them  in 
medical  practice ;  yet  the  gardeners  in  our  neighborhood 
will  testify  that  the  insect  in  question  is  very  injurious  to 
vegetation,  appearing  in  large  numbers  on  the  Irish  potato, 
tomato,  egg-plant,  and  beet,  which  they  will  strip  of  every 
leaf.     I  have,  however,  remarked  that  they  will  give  the 


399 

preference  to  a  common  weed,  if  in  close  proximity — an 
Amarantus — a  kind  of  prince's  feather.  The  insect  is  of  a 
dull,  tawny,  or  light  yellowish  color,  with  two  black  spots 
on  the  head,  two  black  stripes  on  the  thorax,  and  three 
broad  ones  on  each  wing  cover.  The  under  side  of  the 
body,  the  legs  (excepting  the  first  joint,  which  is  yellow- 
ish), the  antennae,,  or  feelers,  are  black.  Its  length  is  from 
five  to  eight  lines,  its  breadth  of  body  two  lines.  The  body 
is  quite  soft.  These  beetles  are  very  shy,  timid  insects, 
and  whenever  disturbed  fall  immediately  from  the  leaves, 
and  attempt  to  conceal  themselves  among  the  grass,  or 
draw  up  their  long  slender  legs  and  feign  themselves  dead. 
In  the  night,  and  in  rainy  weather  they  descend  from  the 
plants  and  burrow  in  the  ground,  or  under  leaves  and  tufts 
of  grass.  It  is,  therefore,  during  clear  weather,  in  the 
morning  and  evening  that  they  feed,  and  are  to  be  col- 
lected. They  should  be  killed  by  throwing  them  into 
scalding  water  for  one  or  two  minutes,  after  which  they 
should  be  spread  upon  cloth  or  paper  to  dry,  and  may  be 
made  profitable  by  selling  them  to  the  apothecaries  for 
medical  use. 

Dunglison,  in  his  Theraputics,  says  that  the  Cantharis 
vittata,  Lytta  vittata,  potato  fly,  is  somewhat  smaller  than  the 
Spanish  fly  (Cantharis  vesicatoria),  its  length  being  about  six 
lines.  The  head  is  of  a  light  red  color,  with  dark  spots  on 
the  top ;  the  feelers  are  black ;  the  elytra,  or  wing-cases, 
black,  with  a  yellow  longitudinal  stripe  in  the  centre,  and  a 
yellow  margin;  the  thorax  is  black,  with  three  yellow 
lines ;  and  the  abdomen  and  legs,  which  are  of  the  same 
color,  are  covered  with  an  ash-colored  down  (Wood  and 
Bache).  They  are  first  observed  about  the  end  of  July  or 
the  beginning  of  August.  They  are  found  in  the  morning 
and  evening,  and  are  collected  by  shaking  them  from  the 
plant  in  hot  water,  after  which  they  are  carefully  dried  in 
the  sun.  It  resembles  the  Spanish  fly  in  all  its  properties. 
Other  species  are  found  in  the  United  States,  viz:  C. 
cinerea,  a  native  of  the  Northern  and  Middle  states;  C. 
marginata;    0.  atrata,  common   in   Northern   and   Middle 


400 

states;  but  C.  vittata  is  the  only  one  that  is  officinal,  op.  cit. 
sup.  In  England,  according  to  Pereira,  the  blistering  bee- 
tle is  found  on  species  of  the  Oleacece,  as  the  ash,  privet,  and 
lilac,  and  upon  the  elder  and  lonicera.  Cloths  are  spread 
under  the  trees  and  the  flies  shaken  upon  them  or  beaten 
with  long  poles  ;  the  flies  are  then  killed  by  being  exposed 
to  the  vapor  of  vinegar,  hot  water,  or  oil  of  turpentine. 

Potato  Coffee. — I  have  seen  this  used  on  several  planta- 
tions in  lower  Carolina  as  a  substitute  for  coffee.  It  is  one 
of  the  best  when  carefully  made  by  our  Southern  matrons. 
The  following  is  given  as  the  mode  of  preparing  and 
using:  the  sweet  potato  is  peeled  and  cut  to  the  size  of 
coffee  berries,  spread  in  the  sun  until  perfectly  dry,  then 
parched  in  an  oven  or  pan  until  thoroughly  brown  before 
being  ground.  As  much  as  is  intended  to  be  used  is  then 
put  into  a  cup  with  a  little  hot  or  cold  wTater ;  it  is  mixed 
well  until  all  is  wet;  boiling  water  is  added,  and  it  is  set- 
tled like  coffee. 

The  mucilaginous  liquor  prepared  from  potatoes  washed 
and  grated,  the  fecula  being  allowed  to  remain  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  vessel,  is  used  for  cleansing  silk,  woollen,  and 
cotton  goods  without  damage  to  the  color.  The  coarse 
pulp  which  does  not  pass  the  sieve  is  of  use  in  cleansing 
worsted  curtains,  carpets,  tapestry,  and  other  coarse  goods ; 
also  in  cleansing  oil  paintings. 

Among  the  plants  for  supplying  starch,  none  is  superior 
to  the  sweet  potato — the  red-skin  variety,  white  within,  is 
preferred.  Large  supplies  are  made  upon  our  plantations 
by  grating  and  washing  out  the  starch  granules,  then  dry- 
ing. See  Maranta  arundinacea  in  this  volume  for  mode  of 
making  starch;  also,  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufac- 
tures, etc.,  vol.  2,  p.  462,  New  York,  1853,  for  a  paper  on 
the  manufacture  of  sugar  from  the  potato,  with  a  table  of 
the  amount  of  starch  in  the  several  varieties  of  the  potato. 

IIydroleace^e. 
Itydrolea  quadrivalvis.     Immersed  in  ponds;  collected  in 
St.  John's.     Fl.  July. 

A  bitter  principle  exists  in  this  genus. 


401 

LiOBELIACEjE. 

Lindley  states  that  all  are  dangerous  or  suspicious,  in 
consequence  of  the  excessive  acridity  of  their  milk. 

Lobelia  inflata,  L.  Indian  tobacco  ;  lobelia ;  emetic-root. 
Grows  in  Spartanburg  and  Abbeville  districts,  and  in 
Georgia.     Ft.  August. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  219  ;  U.  S.  Disp.  434  ;  Barton's 
Collec.  36,  56  ;  Thacher's  IT.  S.  Disp.  267;  Frost's  Elems.; 
Mat.  M6d.  83.  This  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  our 
indigenous  plants,  well  known  as  a  nauseating  diaphoretic 
and  expectorant,  possessing  some  narcotic  power,  and  act- 
ing particularly  on  the  bronchial  mucous  membranes.  The 
infusion  of  the  flowers  promotes  urine,  diaphoresis,  and 
the  discharge  of  the  lochia ;  used  also  in  convulsions  and 
palpitations  of  the  heart.  The  juice  which  exudes  from 
the  plant  is  of  a  penetrating  and  diffusible  nature;  from 
its  effects  upon  the  eye  it  is  called  "eye-bright."  The  tinc- 
ture, in  small  doses,  is  used  to  prevent  colic  and  croup  in 
infants,  just  sufficient  to  produce  slight  nausea.  The  plant 
in  spirits  is  given  largely  in  the  bite  of  serpents  and  in- 
sects, and  the  tincture  applied  externally  is  said  to  relieve 
the  pain  caused  by  the  stings  of  spiders  and  insects.  See 
the  "Cherokee  Physician."  The  infusion  of  the  plant  is 
stimulating  to  the  throat,  and  is  largely  employed  in 
asthma,  as  it  occasions  a  copious  secretion  of  saliva  and 
of  mucous  fluid:  "It,  however,  sometimes  operates  vehe- 
mently and  speedily  on  the  stomach."  Lind.  Nat.  Syst. 
Bot.  237;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  137.  Chap- 
man, Bigelow,  and  Barton  spoke  of  it  as  a  very  active  and 
dangerous  plant.  Supplem.  to  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  1846,  438.  Dr.  Noach,  of  Leipsic,  says  that  it  acts 
specifically  on  the  "pneumogastric  nervous  system,"  and 
consequently  possesses  such  a  remarkable  influence  on  the 
bronchial  mucous  membrane.  In  Geneva,  also,  it  has 
acquired  great  reputation  in  spasmodic  asthma.  See  the 
12th  series  of  the  Journal  de  Chim.  et  de  Pharmacie,  i,  454. 
Dr.  Elliotson  cured  two  cases  in  four  days  with  the  alco- 
26 


402 

holic  tincture  in  a  sufficient  quantity  of  distilled  water. 
It  has  been  found  in  Europe  very  useful  in  chronic  bron- 
chitis, aphony,  and  nervous  affections  of  the  bronchia,  and 
in  laryngitis  and  hooping-cough.  It  has  been  administered 
in  convulsions,  tetanus,  and  dance  of  St.  Guj7.  Mer. 
Supplem.  See  also  Lancet,  February  23,  1838.  The  In- 
dians used  it  as  tobacco,  and  this  is  a  convenient  way  of 
administering  it.  Rufz,  d'empoisonnement  pratique  par 
les  2^"egres,  139;  Sigmond  on  the  properties  of  L.  inflata 
and  syphilitica,  in  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  ix,  587,  1833 ; 
Glasgow  Med.  Journal,  May,  1828;  Bidault  de  Villiers, 
notice  sur  l'emploi  du  Lob.  inflat.  dans  l'asthme  et  comme 
emetique,  Nouv.  Biblioth.  Med.  v.  226.  Lobeline  has  been 
extracted  from  it:  Phil.  Journal  Pharm.  1834.  Dr.  Proctor 
found  it  also  to  contain  an  odorous  volatile  principle,  a 
peculiar  acid,  lobelic,  gum,  resin,  fixed  oil,  lignin,  salts  of 
lime,  potassa,  oxide  of  iron,  etc.  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  ix, 
106,  xiii,  i.  It  has  been  used  as  an  enema  in  the  same  way 
as  tobacco,  and,  in  small  doses,  to  produce  relaxation  of 
the  os  uteri.  Eberle  employed  it  with  success  in  a  case  of 
strangulated  hernia;  he  considers  the  root  and  inflated 
capsule  the  most  powerful  parts  of  the  plant.  Am.  Journal 
Med.  Sc.  xvii,  248.  Some  have  doubted  whether  it  pro- 
duces its  effects  in  the  same  way  as  tobacco.  Dr.  Cutler, 
who  introduced  it,  says  if  the  leaves  be  held  in  the  mouth, 
they  induce  giddiness  and  pain  in  the  head,  with  agitation, 
and  finally  nausea.  Both  Dr.  Randall  and  himself  found  it 
very  efficacious  in  asthma,  and  employed  it  as  a  speedy 
expectorant  in  catarrh  ;  the  latter  did  not  observe  any 
narcotic  effect  ensue  from  it  in  moderate  doses.  In  Xew 
England  the  infusion  has  been  used  advantageously  in 
leucorrhcea.  The  active  principle  is  extracted  by  water 
and  alcohol;  hot  water  is  said  to  impair  its  emetic  power; 
te?i  to  twenty  grains  of  the  powdered  leaves  will  act  as  an 
emetic,  a  moiety  less  as  an  expectorant:  two  ounces  of  the 
dried  plant  are  added  to  one  pint  of  diluted  alcohol,  of 
which  one  teaspoonful  given  to  an  adult  will  generally 
bring  on   nausea,  and  "sometimes  vomiting.     This  is  the 


403 

form  in  which  it  is  usually  prescribed  in  asthma,  repeating 
it  several  times  a  clay,  and  desisting  when  headache  or 
nausea  ensues.  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  373 ;  Big.  Am.  Med. 
Bot.  i,  179  ;  Cutler,  Mem.  Am.  Acad,  i,  484;  Schcepf,  128; 
Mass.  Report,  vi;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot  419;  Raf.  Med.  Fl. 
ii,  22.  Great  use  is  made  of  the  lobelia  in  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia — the  steam  and  vegetable  practitioners  relying 
on  it.  ,  Obstinate  and  very  violent  cases  of  flatulent  colic, 
which  the  tinctures  of  cardamom,  etc.,  fail  to  relieve,  we 
know  to  be  immediately  dissipated  by  preparations  of  this 
plant.  See  Matson's  Veg.  Pract.  and  Howard's  Imp.  Syst. 
Bot.  Med.  334.  I  have  generally  selected  the  tincture  or 
powder  of  lobelia  wherever  I  thought  relaxation  was  re- 
quired, and  where  there  was  a  tendency  to  spasmodic 
action.  Some  physicians  use  the  powder  habitually  as  an 
emetic ;  others  consider  it  too  depressing  for  ordinary 
cases,  and  prefer  ipecacuanha.  The  habit  of  giving  an 
agent  like  this  repeatedly,  almost  daily,  throughout  a  long 
attack  of  pneumonia,  must  certainly  be  injurious;  it  is, 
nevertheless,  adopted  by  some  practitioners. 

Lobelia  syphilitica,  L.  Mountains  of  Carolina  and  Geor- 
gia; jSVwbern.     Fl.  September. 

Bart.  M.  Bot.;  Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  268.  In  the 
Dem.  Elem.  cle  Bot.  ii,  92,  it  is  spoken  of  as  an  acrid  and 
purgative  plant:  "  Se  guerissont  de  la  verole  en  buvant 
line  decoction  de  cinq  a  six  racines."  Am.  Herbal,  208. 
The  Indians  employed  the  decoction  internally  and  topi- 
cally for  lues;  they  communicated  their  opinion  of  its  vir- 
tues in  this  respect  to  Sir  W.  Johnson,  who  published  it  in 
the  April  number  of  the  Amam.  Acad.;  "Woodv.  Med.  Bot. 
177;  Kalm.  L.  C. ;  Linn.  Veg.  M.  Med. ;  Thornton's  Fam. 
Herbal,  727.  Dr.  Wood,  in  the  U.  S.  Disp.  436,  allows  its 
emetic,  diuretic,  and  cathartic  properties,  but  denies  it  any 
value  in  syphilis.  Dr.  Chapman  states  that  it  is  beneficial 
in  dropsy.  It  is  less  powerful  than  the  L.  inflata,  but  more 
diuretic  and  diaphoretic ;  its  diuretic  effects  are  produced 
by  free  doses,   purging  or  vomiting  as  it  is  augmented. 


404 

From  an  analysis  by  M.  Boissel,  it  is  found  to  contain  a 
fatty,  butyraceous  matter,  sugar,  mucilage,  a  volatile  bitter 
substance,  some  salts,  etc.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  iv,  138 ;  Des  Bois  de  Rochefort,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  212 ; 
Diet,  des  Drogues,  iii,  378.  For  analysis,  see  Journal  de 
Pharm.  x,  623  ;  Kalm.  Description  du  Specifique  contre 
le  Mai.  Venerien,  in  the  Mem.  de  l'Acad.  de  Storck,  xii, 
1750. 

Lobelia  cardinalis,  L.  Cardinal  flower.  Grows  in  inun- 
dated soils,  roots  often  immersed ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ; 
collected  in  St.  John's,  Charleston  district;  Richland,  Prof. 
Gibbes ;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  268  ;  Drayton's  Views,  77 ;  U.  S. 
Disp.  436;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv.  137; 
De  Candolle's  Essai,  189 ;  Journal  de  Pharm.  iii.  470 ; 
Bart.  M.  Bot.  ii,  186 ;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  236 ;  Griffith's 
Med.  Bot.  421.  This  plant  is  used  by  the  Indians  as  an 
anthelmintic — some  say  quite  as  efficient  as  the  pinkroot. 
(Spigelj  llaryland.)  Merat  says  it  is  employed  as  a  poison 
by  the  negroes  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  It  is  well 
known  for  its  beautiful  scarlet  flowers. 

Cinchonace^e.     (The  Co  fee  Tribe.) 

The  grand  features  of  this  order  are  powerful  febrifugal 
properties  in  the  bark  and  emetic  in  the  root.  Quinquina 
represents  the  first  and  ipecacuanha  the  second. 

Pinckneya  jmbens,  Mich.  Georgia  bark.  "Found  from 
New  river,  South  Carolina,  along  the  sea-coast  to  Florida." 
Vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach.  Named  in  honor  of  Gen. 
C.  C.  Pinckney.  Fl.  June.  Plants  sent  to  me  by  Dr.  F. 
P.  Pope  from  Bluffton,  S.  C. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  267 ;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  1830 ;  U. 
S.  Disp.  128;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  519;  Griffith, 
Med.  Bot.  366.  It  was  said  by  Michaux  in  his  N.  Am. 
Sylva  to  be  very  useful  in  intermittent  fever.  Dr.  Law, 
of  Georgia,  cured  six  out  of  seven  cases  with  it.     It  did 


405 

not  distress  the  stomach,  though  to  two  patients  one  ounce 
was  given  at  a  dose  ;  one  drachm  is  the  usual  quantity  in 
which  it  is  administered.  Dr.  Farr  detected  a  considerable 
amount  of  cinchonine  in  it,  but  was  prevented  from  com- 
pleting his  examination.  The  attention  of  those  residing 
where  it  may  be  found  is  invited  to  it  as  a  substitute  for 
quinine.  In  Georgia  a  handful  of  the  bark  is  boiled  in  a 
quart  of  water  till  the  liquid  is  reduced  to  one-half;  the 
infusion  is  given. 

Mitchella  repens,  L.  Mitchella  ;  partridge-berry.  Vicin- 
ity of  Charleston ;  grows  in  shady  swampy  lands ;  collected 
in  St.  John's.     Fl.  May. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  199.  An  infusion  of  the  stems 
and  leaves  is  used  in  dysuria,  its  diuretic  powers,  however, 
not  being  of  any  importance.  The  "Cherokee  Doctor" 
declares  that  the  "  decoction  taken  freely  is  an  excellent 
article  to  facilitate  childbirth.  It  should  be  used  daily 
for  two  or  three  weeks  before  that  period  !  "  The  fruit  is 
slightly  acid,  and  is  edible. 

Cephalanthus  occidentalis.  Button-bush.  Grows  along 
rivulets  in  damp  soils  ;  collected  in  St.  John's  ;  specimens 
from  Aiken  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  187;  Drayton's  View,  62;  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  Med.  ii,  176;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  376. 
The  decoction  has  been  used  in  palsy.  Elliott  states  that 
the  inner  bark  of  the  root  is  frequently  employed  in  obsti- 
nate coughs.  Merat  notices  it  as  an  anti-venereal.  A 
writer  in  the  "Mercury"  says:  "The  root  of  the  button- 
wood  or  crane  willow,  a  shrub  which  is  conspicuous  in  our 
swamps  in  the  spring,  when  boiled  with  honey  and  cum- 
frey,  makes  a  pleasant  syrup,  which  is  the  most  effective 
remedy  known  to  me  in  diseases  of  the  lungs.  It  is 
thought  by  many  intelligent  persons  to  be  a  radical  cure  for 
consumption." 

Cojfea  Arabica,  L.     Coffee.     Exotic. 

Should  the  culture  of  coffee  be  attempted  in  the  Con- 


406 

federate  States,  I  would  refer  the  reader  to  Patent  Office 
Reports,  Agriculture,  1858,  p.  313,  for  an  instructive  con- 
densed report  on  the  mode  of  cultivation  in  Jamaica, 
Central  America,  and  other  countries,  with  the  mode  of 
planting,  harvesting,  curing,  etc.,  etc.  See  "Potato  "  and 
"Rye"  for  substitutes  for  coffee. 

RuBiACEiE.     [The  Madder  Tribe.) 

Rubia  tinctorium.     Madder.     Exotic, 

Any  one  interested  in  ascertaining  what  amount  of  any 
plant,  vegetable  or  agricultural  product  was  exported  from 
or  imported  into  the  United  States,  can  obtain  a  list  of 
quantities  and  value  in  Patent  Office  Reports,  1858.  It 
serves  to  show  the  consumption  of  certain  articles,  the 
demand  for  them,  and  the  consequent  necessity  for  their 
cultivation.  I  find  upon  consulting  these  tables,  that 
madder,  for  example,  was  imported  to  an  enormous 
amount,  twenty  million  pounds,  for  calico-printing,  dye- 
ing, etc.;  a  plant  which  might  be  cultivated  within  our 
limits.  See  method,  Patent  Office  Reports,  1855.  So,  also, 
soda,  barilla,  coffee,  and  numerous  other  articles  which  we 
are  or  were  in  the  habit  of  importing.  We  may  find 
among  the  genus  Galium  some  plants  yielding  dyes — 
Galium  trifidum,  L.  and  hispidulum  (Rubia  JBrownii,  Mx.), 
grows  from  Florida  to  jSTorth  Carolina.  G.  verum,  found 
in  England,  contains  so  much  pigment  as  to  have  been 
cultivated  in  place  of  madder.  "Its  flowering  tops  boiled 
in  alum  dye  a  bright  yellow  color,  its  roots  yield  a  red  dye 
equal  to  that  of  madder,  and  the  whole  of  the  plant  when 
bruised  has  the  property  of  curdling  milk,  and  is  some- 
times employed  both  for  coloring  and  flavoring  milk  in- 
tended for  cheeses;"  hence  called  cheese-rennet.  Rural 
Cyc. 

Since  writing  the  above  I  see  it  stated  by  Pursh  that  the 
Indians  use  our  G.  tr(fidum,  L.  (G.  tinctorium)  for  dyeing 
their  porcupine  quills,  feathers,  leather,  etc.,  of  a  beautiful 
red  color. 


407 

Oldenlandia,  Houstonia,  Medyotis.  These  plants,  growing 
abundantly  in  the  Confederate  States,  and  belonging  to  the 
madder  tribe,  should  be  experimented  with  for  tinctorial 
purposes. 

CAPRiFOLiACBiE.     {The  Honeysuckle  Tribe.) 

Independently  of  the  fragrance  and  beauty  of  these 
plants,  astringent  and  purgative  properties  are  possessed 
by  some  of  them. 

Triosteum  perfoliatum,  Linn.  Fever-root ;  wild  ipecacu- 
anha; wild  coffee  ;  horse  gentian. 

Bart.  M.  Bot.  i,  59 ;  Barton's  Collec.  29 ;  Ell.  Bot.  Med. 
Notes,  i,  271 ;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  i,  91 ;  Raf.  Med.  Fl.  i, 
59 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  353.  This  plant  acts  as  a  gentle 
but  certain  cathartic,  particularly  when  combined  with  cal- 
omel, when  its  operation  is  almost  as  marked  as  that  of 
jalap.  The  bark  of  the  root  is  also  emetic,  the  leaves  and 
stalks  proving  less  powerful.  To  produce  its  cathartic 
effect  Bigelow  finds  a  somewhat  larger  dose  than  that  of 
aloes  or  jalap  necessary,  though  it  is  supposed  to  be  influ- 
enced by  age.  Rafinesque  says  the  leaves  are  also  diapho- 
retic ;  and  it  is  stated  by  Dr.  Muhlenberg  that  the  hard 
seeds,  properly  prepared,  are  a  good  substitute  for  coffee. 
Randall,  in  his  communication  to  the  Linnsean  society, 
asserts  that  water  extracts  its  virtues  best;  but  it  is  now 
recommended  to  be  treated  with  alcohol.  The  decoction  is 
said  to  be  used  by  the  Cherokee  Indians  in  the  cure  of 
fevers ;  also  given  hot  in  colds  and  female  obstructions. 
The  dose  as  a  purge  is  from  ten  to  fifteen  grains  of  the 
extract,  and  twenty  to  thirty  grains  of  the  powdered  root. 
Dose  of  the  extract  from  ten  to  twenty  grains. 

Triosteum  angustifolium,  Linn.  Grows  in  South  Carolina. 
Dr.  Tinker's  weed. 

Griffith  Med.  Bot.  353.  Possesses  properties  similar  to 
those  of  the  T.  perfoliatum, 


408 

Lonicera  semjpervirens,  Ait.  and  T.  and  G.  \      "Woodbine. 

Caprifolium,  Ell.  Sk.  J  Grows  in  wet 

swamps ;  more  abundant  in  lower  country ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston  ;  collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl.  May. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  143.  The  plant  is 
not  much  used  in  medicine.  The  syrup  made  of  the  leaves 
is  given  in  asthma,  and  in  angina  tonsillaris.  The  leaves  and 
bark  of  the  L.  caprifolium  of  Linn,  are  styptic  and  acrid ; 
the  flowers  diuretic ;  the  latter  in  decoction  calm  the  pain 
of  colic  (coliques  ou  tranchees)  following  childbirth. 

Diervitta  trifida,  Mcench.  and  T.  and  G.  ^  Bush  honey- 
"         Canadensis,  Ell.  Sk.     Muhl.       \  suckle.    Grows 

Lonicera  diervilla,  Linn.  )  in    the    moun- 

tains of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.     Fl.  June. 

Dem.  Eem.  de  Bot.  iii,  554.  The  leaves  possess  a  nar- 
cotic principle,  inducing  nausea,  and  are  recommended  as 
a  gargle  in  catarrhal  angina.  The  decoction  calms  the 
pain  attending  the  disease ;  taken  largely  it  causes  stupor 
and  catalepsy. 

Sambncus  Canadensis,  Linn.  Elder.  Grows  abundantly 
in  South  Carolina  along  fences,  and  in  rich,  damp  soils ; 
diffused ;  Newbern.     Fl.  June. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  248  ;  Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  404 ;  Dray- 
ton's View,  55;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  325;  U.  S.  Disp.  625; 
Eoyle,  Mat.  Med.  423  ;  Cullen,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  534  ;  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  196 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot. 
354.  "  The  leaves  are  fetid,  emetic,  and  a  drastic  purga- 
tive;" the  plant  acting  in  the  same  way  as  the  European 
species,  the  S.  nigra ;  the  leaf-buds  also  operating  as  a  pow- 
erful purgative.  The  flowers  are  excitant  and  sudorific, 
and  are  used  in  the  form  of  an  ointment  as  a  discutient. 
The  inner  bark  is  a  hydragogue  cathartic  and  emetic,  act- 
ing well  in  dropsy,  and  as  an  alterative  in  various  chronic 
diseases.  The  purgation  which  results  from  its  employ- 
ment is  sometimes,  however,  too  severe.  The  berries  are 
diaphoretic  and  aperient,   and  are  used   as  a  remedy  in 


409 

rheumatic  gout  and  syphilitic  affections.  The  juice  of 
these  diluted  with  water  furnishes  a  cooling  and  valuable 
laxative  drink.  This  plant  is  employed  to  some  extent  in 
domestic  practice  for  the  purposes  severally  referred  to 
above.  A  decoction  made  by  pouring  boiling  water  over 
the  leaves,  flowers,  or  berries  of  the  elder  is  recommended 
as  a  wash  for  wounds  to  prevent  injury  from  flies.  An 
ointment  used  for  the  same  purpose  is  prepared  by  stirring 
the  elder  or  mixing  the  juice  into  lard  while  boiling,  and 
straining  through  a  coarse  sieve.  Beeswax  may  be  added. 
According  to  Mr.  Cozzens,  the  ripe  berries  afford  a  delicate 
test  for  acids  and  alkalies. 

The  leaves  of  the  English  elder  (S.  nigra)  are  noxious  to 
insects,  moles,  etc.  The  flowers  are  used  in  fomentations 
and  cooling  ointments.  "  The  leaves  boiled  in  lard  make 
one  of  the  most  emollient  and  suppling  unguents  known  to 
the  farmer.  The  flowers  are  used  for  making  a  perfumed, 
distilled  water.  The  berries,  according  to  experiments  of 
M.  Wehrle,  of  Vienna,  produce  a  comparatively  much 
larger  quantity  of  spirits  than  can  be  obtained  from  the 
malt  of  the  best  wheat.  The  juice  in  these  experiments 
was  expressed  from  the  berries,  treated  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  must  of  grapes,  and  afterward  distilled."  "Wilson's 
Rural  Cyc.  It  would  be  interesting  to  ascertain  to  what 
extent  our  species  share  the  above  properties. 

Composite. 

These  embrace  four  orders,  all  of  which  are  distinguished 
by  bitterness,  which  in  the  different  sections  is  variously 
combined.  In  the  order  Asteracejs  it  assumes  a  particular 
character,  being  united  with  a  resinous  principle;  in  the 
Cynarace^e  this  bitterness  depends  upon  the  mixture  of 
extractive  with  a  gum,  which  is  sometimes  yielded  in  great 
abundance;  the  Chichorace,e  are  characterized  by  a  juice, 
which  is  milky,  bitter,  astringent,  and  narcotic. 

Vernonia  angustifolia,  Mx.  Grows  in  the  pine  lands  in 
lower  country;  collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl,  July, 


410 

The  root  is  used  by  the  negroes  in  South  Carolina  as  a 
remedy  for  the  bite  of  serpents.  It  is  also  considered  by 
them  to  be  aphrodisiac. 

Liatris  odoratissima,  Walt.  Wild  vanilla.  St.  John's,  S. 
C. ;  Wassamasa  swamp ;  North  Carolina,  near  sea-coast 
(Croom). 

Very  aromatic.  Used  for  scenting  cigars.  The  aroma  is 
abundantly  given  out  when  trodden  upon  by  horses'  feet. 

Liatris  squarrosa,  W.  Crows  in  pine  lands;  collected  in 
St.  John's;  Richland  district;  vicinity  of  Charleston. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  1273;  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  v,  419.  "Y 
sont  usitees  contre  la  morsure  des  serpens."  Mer.  and  de 
L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  97. 

Liatris  scariosa,  W.  Grows  in  pine  lands ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1273,  Appendix.  It  is  employed  in  gonor- 
rhoea, and  as  a  gargle  in  sore  throat. 

Liatris  spicata,  W.  Crows  in  wet  pine  lands ;  collected 
in  St.  John's,  Charleston  district;  vicinity  of  Charleston; 
iSTewbern.     Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1272.  One  of  the  "rattlesnake's  masters." 
Dr.  Barton  said  that  all  the  tuberous-rooted  Liatres  were 
active  plants. 

This  plant,  called  "  button-snakeroot"  by  some,  is  report- 
ed to  be  a  stimulant,  diuretic,  and  expectorant;  also  pos- 
sessing powers  as  an  anodyne ;  it  is  consequently  given  as 
a  remedy  in  colic,  the  tincture  or  the  decoction  of  the  root 
being  employed — said  to  resemble  senega  snakeroot,  and 
to  excite  a  flow  of  saliva  when  chewed. 

Eupatorium  perfoliatum,  Linn.  Thoroughwort ;  boneset. 
Grows  in  damp  soils ;  diffused ;  Richland  district ;  common 
in  low  country.     Fl.  July. 

Chap.  Therap.  and  Mat.  Med.  i,  387,  and  ii,  435 ;  Bell's 


411 

Pract.  Diet.  197 ;  Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  303 ;  Pe.  Mat. 
Med.  and  Therap.  389;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  216; 
Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  216 ;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  445 ;  U.  8. 
Disp.  319 ;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  197  ;  Big.  Am.  Med. 
Bot.  i,  34 ;  Thacher's  Am.  Disp.  217 ;  Am.  Med.  Record, 
iii,  331;  Barton's  Essay  to  Mat.  Med.  28;  Ball,  and  Gar. 
Mat.  Med.  315 ;  Schcepf,  Mat.  Med.  121 ;  Guthrie,  in  An- 
nal.  of  Med.  iii,  403  ;  Anderson's  Inaug.  Thesis,  New  York ; 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  177  ;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp. 
271;  "Shec.  Flora  Carol.  549;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  ii,  133;  Lind. 
Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  253.  A  warm  infusion  of  this  plant  is 
emetic,  sudorific,  and  diaphoretic  ;  employed  cold  as  a  tonic 
and  febrifuge.  The  hot  decoction  may  be  given  in  the  hot 
stages  of  fevers  without  exciting  the  system.  Small  quan- 
tities of  the  cold  infusion,  repeatedly  given  will,  it  is  said, 
>purge,  and  are  prescribed  in  constipation.  The  leaves  and 
flowers,  in  powder,  also  purge,  given  in  doses  of  ten  to 
twenty  grains.  The  discharge  of  bile  is  promoted  by  it. 
It  has  been  repeatedly  prescribed  with  advantage  in  rheu- 
matism, typhoid  pneumonia,  catarrhs,  dropsy,  and  in  the 
influenza  which  prevailed  at  the  North,  and  which  was  de- 
scribed b}7  Dr.  Rush ;  he  also  used  it  with  great  success  in 
the  yellow  fever  of  1798 ;  and  Dr.  Chapman  found  it  one 
of  the  most  effectual  remedies  in  the  epidemic  called  the 
"break-bone  fever."  Graves,  of  Dublin,  has  made  much 
use  of  it  in  the  ship,  or  typhus  fever.  See  note  to  Graves 
and  Gerhard,  Am.  ed.  This  plant  is  extensively  employed 
among  the  negroes  on  the  plantations  in  South  Carolina  as 
a  tonic  and  diaphoretic  in  colds  and  fevers,  and  in  the  ty- 
phoid pneumonia  so  prevalent  among  them.  In  a  few  cases 
which  have  come  under  my  observation,  I  have  found  this 
and  the  senega  snakeroot  [Poly gala  senega)  convenient  and 
useful  prescriptions  in  this  disease;  the  latter,  with  tartar 
emetic  solution,  to  promote  expectoration ;  and  the  former, 
with  flaxseed  tea,  as  a  stimulant  diaphoretic,  combining 
them  with  spirits  of  turpentine  when  it  has  assumed  the 
typhoid  form.  From  its  action  on  the  capillaries,  it  has 
been  recommended  in  chronic  cutaneous  diseases.     Barton 


412 

said  it  possessed  no  power  in  this  regpect ;  but  in  the  hands 
of  Dr.  Zollickoffer  it  has  proved  eminently  successful  in 
tinea  capitis,  given  in  combination  with  cremor  tartar.  See 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  391.  In  the  Supplem.  to  the  Diet,  de 
M.  Med.,  1846,  it  is  reported  to  have  been  given  with  benefit 
in  asthma.  Echo  du  Monde  Savant,  16 ;  Janvier,  1845. 
The  infusion  of  the  roots  and  leaves  is  usually  preferred,  of 
which  one  to  three  ounces  may  be  taken  several  times  a 
day;  of  the  root,  in  powder,  the  dose  is  thirty  grains.  As 
an  emetic  and  cathartic  a  strong  decoction  is  used,  made  by 
boiling  an  ounce  of  the  herb  in  three  half-pints  of  water  to 
one  pint ;  given  in  doses  of  one  or  two  gills  or  more. 
Given  hot,  it  acts  as  a  diaphoretic ;  cold,  as  a  tonic. 

Thoroughwort  or  boneset  tea  used  hot,  in  the  cold  stages 
of  malarial  fever,  and  cold  in  the  hot  stages,  is  believed  by 
many  physicians  in  South  Carolina,  who  have  used  it  since 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  to  be  the  very  best  of  our  indige- 
nous antiperiodics  as  a  substitute  for  quinine.  It  is  thought 
to  be  superior  in  this  respect  to  either  poplar  bark  (Lirioden- 
dron  tulipifera),  willow  (Salix),  or  dogwood.  It  is  also  an 
excellent  stimulating  diaphoretic  in  low  fevers. 

The  plants  just  mentioned,  the  blackberry,  chinquapin, 
(Ga&tama)  and  dogwood  to  be  used  as  astringents,  the 
gentians,  pipsissewa,  Sabbatia,  etc.,  as  bitter  tonics,  can 
easily  be  obtained  by  our  soldiers  while  in  camp,  and  they 
will  be  found  to  fulfil  all  the  indications  required  in  most 
cases  of  fever,  dysentery,  diarrhoea,  catarrhs,  etc.  In  the 
formation  of  demulcent  drinks,  as  substitutes  for  flaxseed 
and  gum-arabic,  the  roots  and  leaves  of  the  sassafras,  and 
the  leaves  of  the  Bene  (Sesamum)  will  suffice.  The  Podo- 
phyllum  (wild  jalap)  will  supply  the  purgative ;  therefore, 
with  the  possession  of  opium  and  calomel,  the  surgeon  in 
the  field  can  himself  obtain  almost  everything  desired,  and 
with  comparatively  little  aid  from  the  Medical  Purveyors. 
Our  chief  desiderata  now  are  the  preparations  of  potash, 
viz :  nitrate  chlorate  and  bicarbonate,  and  sup.  carb.  of  soda. 
We  may  procure  soda  from  our  Salsola  kali. 

The  winter-green  (Chimaphila  umbellata)  is  both  tonic  and 


413 

diuretic,  and  may  be  given  with  advantage  in  dropsy.  In 
examining*  (1862)  the  excrescences  produced  by  an  insect  on 
nearly  all  the  leaves  of  the  cotton-wood  tree  [Populus  hete- 
rophylla,  L.)  I  find  them  possessed  of  an  intensely  bitter 
principle,  which  may  be  made  useful  as  a  tonic  given  in 
spirits.  The  cinquefoil  (Potentilla)  is  mucilaginous,  and  I 
am  informed  that  in  Sumter  district,  S.  C,  it  is  used  with 
great  advantage  as  a  remedy  in  affections  of  the  lungs, 
chronic  colds,  etc.  The  "Indian  doctors"  make  a  pill  to 
act  upon  the  liver,  which  they  call  the  "hepatic  pill,"  by 
boiling  thoroughwort  leaves  until  their  strength  is  extract- 
ed, then  strain  the  decoction  and  continue  boiling  till  it 
becomes  thick — an  extract  in  other  words.  It  is  made  up 
with  starch  into  pills,  and  three  are  given  at  a  dose.  See 
"Indian  Guide  to  Health." 

Eupatorium  purpureum,  L.  Purple  thoroughwort;  gravel 
root.  I  have  a  specimen  from  Abbeville  district  from  Mr. 
Reed ;  Richland  district ;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Charles- 
ton district ;  grows  in  damp  or  inundated  soils  ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  319 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii, 
177.  It  is  said  to  operate  as  a  diuretic ;  and  it  is  one  of 
the  popular  remedies  for  calculus,  probably  possessing  prop- 
erties somewhat  similar  to  those  of  the  Eup.  per/. 

Eupatorium  teucrifolium,  W.  and  T.  and  G.  1         Wild 

"  verbencefolium,  Ell.  Sk.  j    horehound. 

Grows  in  damp  soils ;  collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl.  August. 

Michaux,  Flora  Amer.  ii,  98 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  319.  This  is 
tonic,  diaphoretic,  diuretic,  and  aperient.  A  popular 
remedy  in  intermittents.  See  observations  of  Dr.  Jones, 
of  Georgia.  It  may  be  substituted  in  some  cases  for  the 
Eup.  perfol. 

Eupatorium  rotimdifolium,  L.  Grows  in  dry  pine  barrens ; 
collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley ;  vicinity  of  Charleston ; 
Richland  district.     Fl.  July  and  August. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  177 ;    Journal  Gen. 


414 

de  Med.  xxxvi,  111.     The  infusion  is  said  to  be  useful  in 
consumption.     See  Dr.  Mitchell's  letter. 

Ewpatorium  fceniculacewn,  Willd.     Dog-fennel. 

This  plant  is  said  to  tan  leather  in  an  extraordinarily  short 
space  of  time,  by  a  process  which  attracted  much  attention 
during  the  fall  of  1861.  Strange  that  in  my  examination 
of  this  plant,  with  that  of  others,  I  found  that  it  contained 
scarcely  a  trace  of  tannin.  But  the  common  name  of  dog- 
fennel  has  been  applied  to  the  ox-e}-ed  daisy  (Leucanthe- 
mum  vidgare,  Lam.),  and  to  the  wild  chamomile  (JSIaruta, 
cotida),  or  stinking  Mayweed.  Since  my  publication  advis- 
ing the  myrtle  as  a  material  for  tanning,  I  see  a  notice  of 
its  being  used  by  Mr.  Cummings  for  the  purpose.  It  is 
believed  by  some  that  the  presence  of  this  plant  indicates 
the  existence  of  the  cause  of  malarial  fevers.  It  is  used  to 
keep  off  insects  and  bugs  by  strewing  on  the  floors  of 
cellars  and  dairies. 

The  Tallahassee  Floridian  (1861)  says  : 

"  Leather  tanned  by  the  new  process. — "We  have  seen  a 
specimen  of  kip  leather  said  to  be  tanned  by  Isaac  Bier- 
field,  of  aSTewberry,  S.  C,  in  twenty  days,  with  his  dog- 
fennel  preparation.  The  sample  was  soft  and  pliable,  and 
had  all  the  appearance  of  being  equal  to  the  best  French 
leather.  We  understand  that  our  shoemakers  so  pro- 
nounce it. 

"Everybody  knows  what  dog-fennel  is,  and  will  be  glad 
to  learn  that  it  is  of  some  account  after  all.  The  weed 
grows  in  great  abundance  and  perfection  in  all  parts  of 
Florida.  Mr.  Bierfield  says  that  now  is  the  time  to  gather 
it,  and  that  it  should  be  put  under  shelter.  Planters 
would  do  well  to  lay  by  a  goodly  portion  of  it,  as  it  may 
prove  highly  valuable  in  the  manufacture  of  their  leather." 

I  have  not  been  able  to  procure,  by  application  made  to 
Mr.  Bierfield,  any  specimens  of  the  plant. 

Aster  iortifolius,  Mx.  Mouse-ear.  Vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton ;  grows  in  dry  pine  barrens :  collected  in  St.  John's. 


415 

This  plant  has  some  reputation  in  domestic  practice  in 
South  Carolina  as  a  diuretic.  I  have  noticed  the  summit 
generally  covered  with  little  insects. 

Aster  cordifolium.     Grows  in  rich  lands.     Fl.  August. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  387.  It  possesses  antispasmodic  prop- 
erties. A  small  species  (Diplopappus  Unarifolius,  Hooker, 
Aster,  Ell.  Sk.)  grows  in  pine  barrens,  St.  John's,  S.  C,  the 
leaves  of  which  contain  an  unusual  amount  of  silica ;  they 
are  employed  to  polish  horns,  and  as  a  substitute  for  sand- 
paper. 

Erigeron  Canadense,  L.  Colt's-tail  ;  flea-bane.  Common 
in  damp,  sandy  soils;  collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of 
Charleston  ;  Richland,  Gibbes ;  Kewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Royle,  Mat.  Med.  447  ;  Matson's  Veg.  Prac.  368 ;  U.  S. 
Disp.  316;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  140; 
Journal  de  Bot.  448 ;  et  des  Pharm.  214 ;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp. 
268  ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  395 ;  D6m.  £lem.  de  Bot.  200  ; 
Raf.  Med.  Fl. 

This  is  a  stimulant  tonic,  diuretic,  and  astringent, 
employed  with  marked  success  in  dropsy  and  diarrhoaa;  it 
is  much  used  by  the  vegetable  practitioners  in  the  latter 
disease  ;  they  give  a  teacupful  of  the  infusion  of  the  herb 
in  hot  water  every  two  hours ;  when  chewed  it  relieves 
cholera  morbus.  Dr.  Depuz  found  it  useful  in  these 
diseases.  See  his  observations  quoted  in  the  U.  S.  Disp. 
316.  He  found  tannin,  gallic  acid,  and  volatile  oil  among 
its  constituents,  from  whence  its  beneficial  action  in  the 
diseases  specified  may  be  inferred.  An  infusion  of  the 
powdered  flowers  is  antispasmodic,  and  is  employed  in 
hysterical  and  nervous  affections.  The  oil  obtained  from 
the  plant  possesses  extraordinary  styptic  properties.  The 
dose  of  the  powder  is  thirty  grains  to  one  drachm. 

Erigeron  Philadelphicum,  L.  iSTon.  Ell.  Frost-root.  Com- 
mon in  pastures ;  collected  in  St.  John's ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston.     Fl.  May. 

Liud.   Nat.   Syst/Bot.    253;    Shec.    Flora   Carol.    537; 


416 

Royle,  Mat.  Med.  447;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  i,  234;  IT.  S.  Disp. 
317.  It  is  diuretic,  without  being  offensive  to  the  stomach. 
Fr.  Elems.  81.  In  great  repute  as  a  remedy  in  calculus 
and  in  nephritic  diseases.  It  was  a  favorite  prescription  in 
Philadelphia  in  dropsy,  and  Dr.  Wistar  recommends  it  in 
hydrothorax  complicated  with  gout.  The  plant  is  officinal. 
One  ounce  of  the  plant  to  be  administered  in  infusion  or 
decoction  of  one  pint  in  twenty-four  hours. 

Erigeron  strigosum,  Muhl.  Grows  in  sandy  soils ;  vicin- 
ity of  Charleston. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  396.  It  is  similar  in  properties  to 
the  jE7.  annuum,  a  favorite  diuretic  in  the  dysuria  of  chil- 
dren— used  by  Physick  and  Dewees  in  painful  micturition 
dependent  on  nephritis.  This  also  yields  a  styptic  oil 
similar  to  that  afforded  by  the  E.  Canadense. 

Erigeron  pusilum,      Grows   in    pastures    and   cultivated 
soils  ;  collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl.  June. 
IT.  S.  Disp.  316. 


/o  odora,  Ait.  Golden  rod.  Grows  in  rich  soils, 
among  the  mountains,  and  in  the  upper  districts,  accord- 
ing to  Ell.  Collected  in  St.  John's  also;  Newbern.  Fl. 
October. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  437  ;  IT.  S.  Disp.  679  ; 
Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  i,  189.  An  aromatic,  moderately 
stimulant,  and  carminative  plant,  and  like  other  substances 
of  the  same  class,  diaphoretic  in  warm  infusion.  It  is  used 
to  allay  pain  from  flatulence,  lessen  nausea,  and  cover  the 
taste  or  correct  the  operation  of  irritating  or  unpleasant 
medicines.  Merat  states  that  the  infusion  is  also  employed 
as  an  astringent  in  dysentery,  and  in  ulceration  of  the 
intestines.  Journal  Gen.  de  Med.  xxxvi,  3.  When  the 
leaves  are  subjected  to  distillation  a  very  aromatic,  volatile 
oil  collects,  and  an  essence  may  be  made  by  dissolving  this 
in  proof  spirits.  This  will  also  stop  vomiting  and  correct 
the  taste  of  medicines,   even   laudanum   and   castor  oil ; 


417 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  397,  observes  that  it  is  valuable  in 
allaying  the  pain  from  headache,  externally  applied.  It  is 
much  used  in  the  Eastern  states,  and  Bigelow  thinks  it  will 
entirely  supplant  more  expensive  articles.  According  to 
Pursh,  the  dried  flowers  are  a  pleasant  and  wholesome 
substitute  for  tea. 

Solidago  Canadensis,  L.,  )  Margin  of  fields.  Used  in 
"      ^mocera,  Ell.       J  Canada  as  a  most  valuable  dye. 

The  leaves^  and  flowers  of  the  English  species  are  used 
for  making  a  yellow  dye;  said  to  be  as  good  as  woad. 
Eng.  Flora,  v.  iii,  Farm.  Encyc.  Its  stalks  are  numerous, 
straight,  and  grow  almost  five  feet  in  height;  they  afford 
very  strong  fibres  if  treated  in  the  same  manner  as  hemp. 

Solidago  sempervirens,  L.  Narrow  leaf  golden-rod.  Grows 
in  wet  lands  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  September. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  437.  Very  effica- 
cious in  the  cure  of  wounds. 

Inula  helenium.  Elecampane.  Mountains  of  North  Caro- 
lina.    Chap.     Introduced. 

Inuline,  a  vegetable  substance  of  closely  kindred  nature 
to  starch  and  dextrine,  was  discovered  by  Rose  in  Elecam- 
pane, and  takes  its  name  from  the  old  botanical  designation 
of  that  plant  (I.  helenium).  It  is  spontaneously  deposited 
from  a  decoction  of  the  roots  of  Elecampane,  and  it  consti- 
tutes the  greater  part  of  the  solid  matter  of  the  tubes,  both 
of  the  dahlia  and  the  Jerusalem  artichoke.  It  is  a  white 
powder,  and  consists  by  analysis  of  Payen  of  46.6  per  cent, 
of  carbon,  6.1  of  hydrogen,  and  49.3  of  oxygen.  It  is  solu- 
ble in  hot  water,  being  distinct  from  both  gum  and  starch 
by  its  insolubility  in  cold  water.  But  when  exposed  to  a 
temperature  of  three  hundred  and  seven  degrees,  it  com- 
pletely melts,  acquires  new  properties,  and  becomes  solu- 
ble both  in  cold  water  and  in  alcohol.  Boussino;ault 
showed  that  it  is  not  colored  by  iodine,  while  acetic  acid, 
which  is  without  action  on  starch,  produces  with  inuline 
27 


I  418 

precisely  the  same  effects  as  the  sulphuric  and  other  acids ; 
finally,  diastase,  whose  reaction  upon  starch  is  so  peculiar,  so 
prompt,  and  so  powerful,  does  not  cause  any  change  in  inu- 
line.  It  is,  therefore,  easy  to  separate  these  two  substances 
when  they  are  mingled,  by  heating  the  mixture  either  with 
acetic  acid,  which  dissolves  the  inuline,  or  with  diastase, 
which  dissolves  the  starch.  I  insert  the  above  from  Wil- 
son's Rural  Cyc.  and  Boussingault's  treatise  on  account  of 
the  interesting  nature  of  the  product.  See,  also,  works  on 
chemistry.  The  roots  should  be  dug  in  autumn,  and  in  the 
second  year  of  their  growth,  as  when  older  they  are  apt  to 
be  stringy  and  woody.  The  dried  root  has  a  very  peculiar 
and  agreeable  aromatic  odor,  slightly  camphorous.  The 
taste  at  first  is  glutinous  and  somewhat  similar  to  that  of 
rancid  soap ;  upon  chewing  it  becomes  warm,  aromatic, 
and  bitter.  In  its  medical  properties,  elecampane  is  tonic 
and  gently  stimulant.  By  the  ancients  used  in  diseases  of 
females ;  in  the  United  States  mostly  confined  to  diseases 
of  the  lungs.  It  has  also  been  extolled  when  applied  ex- 
ternally for  the  cure  of  itch,  tetter,  and  other  diseases  of 
the  skin.     Farmer's  Encyc. 

Baccharis  halimifolia,  Jj.  Sea  myrtle;  consumption  weed. 
Grows  along  the  sea-coast ;  collected  in  St.  John's,  where 
it  is  found  in  abundance ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  JSTew- 
bern.     Fl.  October. 

Shec.  Flora.  Carol.  256.  This  plant  is  of  undoubted 
value,  and  of  very  general  use  in  popular  practice  in  South 
Carolina,  as  a  palliative  and  demulcent  in  consumption  and 
cough  ;  I  have  frequently  seen  it  used  with  advantage,  and 
have  often  heard  those  employing  it  confess  the  benefit  de- 
rived from  it.  A  strong  decoction  of  the  root  may  be 
drunk  several  times  a  day.  It  is  slightly  bitter  and  mucil- 
aginous to  the  taste.  No  analysis  has  yet  been  made,  so 
far  as  I  can  learn.  Shecut  states  that  the  "  bark  is  said  to 
exude  a  gum  so  much  resembling  honey  as  to  attract  bees 
in  great  numbers."  This,  like  many  others  of  our  indige- 
nous plants  possessed  of  unequivocal  utility,  is  unnoticed 
in  the  dispensatories  and  other  works. 


419 

Pterocaulon  pycnostachyum.  Grows  abundantly  in  dry 
pine  barrens;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley.     Fl.  July. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  324.  Much  use  is  made  of  this 
plant  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  as  an  alterative;  it  is  supposed 
to  be  possessed  of  decided  value.  It  is  well  known  as  the 
blackroot  of  the  negroes.  A  decoction  of  the  root  is  given 
several  times  a  day. 

Xanthium  strumarium,~L.  Burr;  burdock.  Grows  abun- 
dantly in  cultivated  lands ;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berk- 
ley; vicinity  of  Charleston;  Richland,  Gibbes.  Fl.  Au- 
gust. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  970 ;  Dioscorides, 
lib.  iv,  133.  It  has  been  used  in  scrofula.  The  only  works 
in  which  we  have  been  able  to  find  any  account  of  it  are 
the  Dem.  filem.  de  Bot.  iii,  91,  where  the  leaves  are  said  to 
be  astringent,  the  seeds  diuretic,  and  the  expressed  juice 
useful  in  affections  of  the  bladder,  and  as  an  auxiliary 
remedy  in  the  treatment  of  ringworm ;  also  in  Linnaeus, 
Vegetable  Mat.  Med.  172,  according  to  which  it  is  found 
beneficial  in  herpes  and  in  erysipelas ;  hence,  we  may  infer 
that  it  has  at  any  rate  some  power  as  an  alterative.  Its 
leaves  afford  a  yellow  dye.  No  use  is  made  of  it  in  South 
Carolina  or  Georgia,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain.  The  plant 
is  considered  a  nuisance  by  farmers,  as  the  burrs  get  entan- 
gled in  the  wool  of  sheep,  from  which  they  are  with  diffi- 
culty removed. 

Verbesina  Virginica,  Linn.  Grows  along  fences  ;  collect- 
ed in  St.  John's;  Richland  district.     Fl.  July. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  380.  The  root,  in  decoction,  is  said 
to  be  a  powerful  sudorific. 

Ambrosia  arteiyiisicefolia,  "W.  Rag-weed.  Grows  in  culti- 
vated lands  and  pastures;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Charles- 
ton district. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  227.  The  plant  is 
ueed  in  fevers  in  Maryland  as  a  substitute  for  quinine;  a 


420 

tincture  is  made,  or  the  juice  given  with  whiskey.     It  is 
very  bitter,  and  is  thought  to  be  useful. 

Ambrosia  trifida,  Linn. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  387.  A  plant  has  been  noticed  by 
Dr.  Robertson  (Am.  Journal  Med.  Sci.  xii,  382,  new  series), 
which  appears  to  be  this,  which  is  highly  beneficial  in  ar- 
resting excessive  salivation. 

Eclipta  erecta,  Linn.  T.  and  Gray.  1      Collected    in    St. 
"        procumbens,  Ell.  Sk.  J  John's;    dry   soils; 

vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  387.    It  is  said  to  stain  the  hair  black. 

Helianihus  tuberosus.  Artichoke.  Cultivated  in  South 
Carolina. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  Supplem.  1846,  p.  351. 
The  root  washed  in  water,  and  given  to  animals,  will,  it 
is  said,  produce  meteorism  ("meteorizations  mortelles"). 
Nouv.  Biblioth.  Med.  viii,  426. 

In  Patent  Office  Reports,  p.  578,  1848,  a  paper  on  the 
culture  of  the  Jerusalem  artichoke,  translated  from  the 
French,  is  published.  This  contains  a  full  description  of 
its  various  uses  as  an  article  of  food,  etc.  I  will  enumerate 
some  of  them : 

The  tubers  are  regarded  in  Alsatia,  and  near  Strasburg, 
as  an  excellent  nutriment  for  milch  cows;  equally  good 
as  food  for  horses,  which  are  thus  kept  in  a  good  condition, 
and  sustain  hard  labor.  With  the  addition  of  salt,  they 
are  also  useful  in  feeding  sheep.  The  tubers  compare  very 
well  with  the  potato  in  the  amount  of  dry  matter  they  con- 
tain, and  its  relative  value  as  a  root-plant  used  for  fodder  is 
maintained.  The  "  stalks  are  of  nearly  as  great  use  as  the 
tubers ;  and  here  is  the  advantage  which  it  has  over  the  po- 
tato." Even  if  the  stalk  is  cut  early  in  September,  which 
diminishes  the  size  of  the  tubers,  it  is  compensated  for  by 
the  supply  of  green  food  at  that  early  period.  According 
to  Schwertz's  experiments,   one  hundred  kilogrammes  of 


421 

the  green  stalks  equal,  as  regards  nutritious  qualities, 
31.250  kilogrammes  of  our  hay.  The  stalks  of  the  arti- 
ehoke  can  be  employed  even  should  they  be  allowed  to 
remain  till  the  tubers  are  ripe,  when  they  are  readily  eaten 
by  all  domestic  animals.  "Finally,  the  stalks  of  artichokes 
have  for  fuel  a  value  which  no  other  product  of  field  cul- 
ture has.  To  prepare  them  for  use  they  are  cut  in  two, 
and  made  up  into  fagots.  This  fuel  is  especially  adapted 
for  heating  ovens  or  furnaces." 

It  bears  a  great  amount  of  cold.  It  can  be  left  in  the 
ground  all  winter,  and  does  not  easily  suffer  from  heat.  It 
is  well  adapted  even  to  dry  and  poor  soils.  The  article 
which  I  condense  contains  full  information  as  to  the  best 
mode  of  planting,  gathering,  etc.  "Kade,  an  Alsatian, 
saw  the  same  soil  produce  every  year  for  thirty  years  a  tol- 
erable crop  of  stalks  and  tubers  of  this  plant,  though  it  had 
not  for  a  long  time  received  either  culture  or  manure." 
Early  in  April  is  the  best  time  to  plant,  but  even  in  winter 
they  can  be  put  in  the  ground.  Withered  tubers  may  be 
used  as  seed  if  soaked;  but  planting  of  pieces  or  cuttings 
has  not  the  same  success  as  with  the  potato.  Unless  the 
season  is  too  moist  the  tubers  may  be  left  in  the  ground  all 
winter.  To  preserve  them  when  gathered  "  it  is  sufficient 
to  make  a  heap  and  cover  them  with  earth,  for  they  are  not 
affected  by  cold  unless  when  exposed  to  the  open  air.  The 
stalks  intended  to  serve  as  fodder  in  place  of  hay  are  cut 
with  a  sickle,  and  carefully  dried  by  leaning  them  up  in 
heaps."  M.  Vilmerne,  of  the  Agricultural  Society  of  Lyons, 
remarks  that  the  artichoke  was  known  as  an  esculent  plant 
by  the  Romans,  but  neglected  in  the  dark  ages,  till  it  again 
came  into  notice  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Almost  all 
parts  of  this  plant,  he  says,  may  be  rendered  useful.  The 
leaves  yield  an  extract  which  may  be  substituted  for  quinine. 
The  leaves  themselves  may  be  cooked  and  eaten  after  the 
fruit  is  gathered,  or  used  as  fodder  mixed  with  certain 
grasses.  They  may  be  substituted  for  hops  in  making 
beer,  and  they  contain  a  great  proportion  of  potash. 

The  Jerusalem  artichoke  contains  a  very  large  propor- 


422 

tion  of  starch.  It  is  used  for  making  pickles,  and  eaten  as 
a  vegetable.  It  is  easily  cultivated,  gives  less  trouble 
than  almost  any  other  plant,  reproduces  with  scarcely  any 
attention,  and  is  a  most  valuable  food  for  cattle,  hogs,  etc. 
See  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  etc. ;  Thae'r's 
Science  of  Agriculture. 

Among  our  best  plants  which  may  be  cultivated  for 
starch  may  be  mentioned  the  potato,  .wheat,  rice,  arrow- 
root (Maranta  arundinacea),  corn,  etc.  For  methods,  see 
Ure,  and  domestic  receipt  books. 

Helianthus  annuus.     Sunflower.     Cult. 

Evaporation  takes  place  in  plants  to  an  inconceivable 
degree  under  certain  circumstances.  It  is  known  by  the 
experiments  of  Dr.  Hales  that  a  sunflower  plant  will  lose 
as  much  as  one  pound  fourteen  ounces  by  perspiration  in 
twelve  hours.  "  Taking  all  things  into  account,  a  sunflower 
perspires  seventeen  times  more  than  a  man." 

The  French  make  a  moxa  out  of  the  pith  of  the  sun- 
flower. The  English  use  for  this  purpose  cotton  dipped  in 
a  solution  of  saltpetre. 

A  few  years  since  Commander  Maury  recommended  the 
sunflower  to  be  planted  around  exposed  residences,  as  a 
barrier  against  malaria. 

The  seeds  are  used  for  fattening  poultry,  as  they  are 
highly  nutritous.  One  hundred  pounds  of  the  seed  of  the 
sunflower  are  said  to  yield  forty  pounds  of  oil.  The  refuse 
after  expression  furnishes  excellent  food  for  cattle.  "From 
the  leaves  of  the  plant  cigars  are  manufactured,  of  singular 
pectoral  qualities.  The  stalk  affords  a  superior  alkali." 
(Mrs.  Ellsworth.) 

The  following  I  extract  from  the  Farmer's  Encyclopaedia: 

"An  acre  of  land  will  contain  twenty-five  thousand  sun- 
flower plants,  twelve  inches  distant  from  each  other.  The 
produce  will  be  according  to  the  nature  of  the  soil  and 
mode  of  cultivation  ;  but  the  average  has  been  found  to  be 
fifty  bushels  of  the  seed  per  acre,  which  will  yield  fifty 
gallons  of  oil.     The  oil  is  excellent  for  table  use,  burning 


423 

in  lamps,  and  for  the  manufacture  of  soaps.  The  marc,  or 
refuse  of  the  seeds  after  the  oil  has  been  expressed,  made 
into  cake,  will  produce  fifteen  hundred  pounds,  and  the 
stalks  when  burnt  for  alkali  will  give  ten  per  cent,  of 
potassa.  The  green  leaves  of  the  sunflower  when  dried 
and  burnt  to  powder  make  excellent  fodder  for  milch  cows, 
mixed  with  bran.  From  the  ease  with  which  sunflowers 
are  produced  in  gardens  (for  they  seem  to  flourish  in  any 
soil,  and  to  require  no  particular  care),  we  may  safely  say- 
that  an  acre  of  land  will  yield  a  considerable  return. 
Poultry  are  very  fond  of  the  seeds." 

The  following  appeared  in  the  "Atlanta  Commonwealth," 
1862 : 

"Sunflower  seed  and  ground-nut  oil.  —  The  fact  has  been 
known  for  some  time  that  the  crop  of  linseed  oil  was 
short,  and  that  there  would,  in  consequence,  be  a  great 
scarcity  of  linseed  oil.  Very  naturally  those  interested 
began  to  look  around  for  a  substitute,  and  the  oils  of  cotton 
seed,  sunflowers,  and  pea-nuts  have  been  favorably  men- 
tioned. How  far  either  will  serve  as  a  substitute  we  do 
not  know;  but  certainly  the  oil  extracted  from  some  one  or 
all  of  them  might  subserve  some  useful  end. 

"  We  recollect  that  some  years  ago  the  cultivation  of  the 
sunflower  was  strongly  urged  in  an  agricultural  periodical 
for  various  useful  purposes ;  first,  for  a  bee  pasture ; 
secondly,  the  seeds  were  good  for  poultry,  or  the  manufac- 
ture of  oil;  and  then,  after  the  oil  was  expressed,  to  be 
compressed  into  oil-cake  for  cow-food  and  fattening  hogs  ; 
the  leaves  for  fodder  and  the  stalk  for  wrapping  paper.  In 
the  present  condition  of  the  country,  these  suggestions 
may  not  be  without  value. 

"  The  manufacture  of  oil  from  cotton  seed,  we  believe, 
has  been  carried  on  for  some  time  in  !N"ew  Orleans,  and 
expressed  seed  made  into  oil-cake  for  cow-food.  We  see 
no  reason  why  this  oil  should  not  be  made  in  any  desirable 
quantity  and  with  great  profit,  as  well  as  serve  most  of  the 
purposes  for  which  oil  is  used." 

Anthemis.     See  Maruta. 


424 

Maruta  cotula,  D.  C,  T.  and   G.  "I      Wild   chamomile  ; 

Anthemis,  Ell.  Sk.  J  May -weed.       Grows 

in  dry  soils;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  vicinity  of 
Charleston  ;  liTewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  i,  741 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  i,  741 ;  Ed.  and  Yav.  Mat.  Med.  263 ;  IT.  S.  Disp. 
278  ;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  171 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  398.  A 
tonic,  diaphoretic,  and  emetic;  resembling  chamomile  in 
its  effects,  to  which  it  is  full}7  equal,  but  more  nauseous. 
It  is  one  of  our  most  useful  domestic  remedies,  and  is 
given  in  numerous  diseases.  It  is  also  possessed  of  some 
power  as  an  antispasmodic.  A  decoction  acts  as  a  sudor- 
ific and  anodyne,  and  is  given  in  colds  and  hysterical 
attacks.  Merat  mentions  it  as  a  substitute  for  assafcetida, 
that  it  is  employed  as  an  antihysteric,  and  is  recommended 
in  rebellious  bilious  fever.  Dr.  Ash  by  speaks  of  it  as  a 
prompt  and  powerful  vesicant  when  bruised  and  applied  to 
the  surface  as  a  poultice.  Barton  and  Rafinesque  had  con- 
veyed a  different  impression  concerning  it.  Dr.  Ashby 
adds  that  unlike  blisters  caused  by  other  vegetable  irri- 
tants, the  vesications  readily  heal.  Journal  Phil.  Coll. 
Pharm.  Every  part  of  the  plant  is  fetid  and  acrid,  has 
minute  resinous  dots  upon  its  surface,  and  when  much 
handled  blisters  the  skin.  Rural  C}7c.  The  flowers  of  the 
medicinal  chamomile  are  powerfully  antiseptic  —  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  times  superior  to  salt. 

Achillea  millefolium,  L.  Milfoil;  yarrow.  Grows  in  damp, 
rich  soils;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  vicinity  of 
Charleston  ;  ISTewbern.     Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1225,  Appendix;  Le  Mat.  Med.  ii,  108;  Ed. 
and  Vav,  Mat.  Med.  267;  Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  738;  Hoff- 
mann, "De  Prfestantia  Remed.  Domest. ;"  Matson's  Veg. 
Pract,  299;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  Mat.  Med.  i,  22; 
Shec.  Flora  Carol.  91;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  253;  Woodv. 
Med.  Bot.  180.  This  is  an  astringent;  employed  in  the 
suppression  of  hemorrhages.  The  Highlanders  made  an 
ointment  of  it  to  dry  up  wounds.     Linnaeus   informs   us 


425 

that  the  inhabitants  of  Delecarnia  mix  it  with  ale  in  place 
of  hops,  and  think  it  imparts  to  the  liquor  an  intoxicating 
quality.  Lightfoot's  Flora  Scotica,  486;  Thornton's  Fam. 
Herb.  A  tablespoonful  of  the  expressed  juice  will  arrest 
spitting  of  blood  ;  and  it  is  also  valuable  as  an  astringent 
in  dysentery.  Dr.  Buckwald  says  he  experienced  great 
benefit  from  the  plant  in  the  bleeding  piles.  Stahl  boasted 
of  it  as  a  specific;  and  the  great  Haller  asserts  that  the  infu- 
sion, taken  inwardly,  with  the  outward  application  of  the 
leaves,  cut  fine,  will  dissipate  dreadful  wounds — cicatrizing 
them  rapidly.  Stahl,  Diss,  de  Therap. ;  Hoffman,  "De 
Pnestant.  Remed."  18  ;  Linnaeus,  Flora  Shec.  299.  Besides 
the  astringent,  it  possesses  a  mild,  antispasmodic,  tonic 
power,  which  renders  it  beneficial  in  hysterical  affections 
and  in  leucorrhoea.  The  flowers  are  stronger  than  the 
leaves,  being  somewhat  similar  to  chamomile,  and  yielding 
by  distillation  a  small  quantity  of  essential  oil  of  a  blue 
color.  Dr.  Grew  says  it  resembles  contrayerva  in  its 
effects.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  Supplem.  1846, 
p.  5.  See  Analysis  in  Bull,  des  Sci.  Med.  de  Ferus,  xxii, 
119,  and  xxvi,  253;  Soc.  de  Med.  Botanique  de  Londres, 
1830.  It  is  asserted  that  this  plant  has  a  marked  tonic 
power  upon  the  bladder ;  it  is  employed  in  debility  of  that 
organ,  and  is  especially  useful  in  correcting  the  involun- 
tary discharge  of  urine  in  children.  A  handful  of  the 
leaves  is  infused  in  a  pint  of  boiling  water,  and  three 
ounces  may  be  taken  by  an  adult  three  times  a  day.  See 
Culverwell's  treatment.  This  plant  might  be  found  of 
great  service  by  practitioners  residing  in  the  country. 
The  leaves  of  yarrow,  or  milfoil,  are  said  by  Johnson,  in 
his  Chemistry  of  Common  Life,  to  "have  the  property  of 
producing  intoxication.  These  are  also  used  in  the  north 
of  Sweden  by  the  Delecarnians  to  give  headiness  to  their 
beer." 

Tanacetum  vidgare,  L.     Tans}^.     Sparingly  nat.  in  North 
Carolina.     Chap. 

Plant  emits  a  strong  but  not  unpleasant  odor,  and  has  a 


426 

bitter  taste;  said  to  possess  tonic,  cordial,  and  anthelmintic 
properties.  Rural  Cyc.  See,  also,  medical  authors.  Plant 
yields  an  oil,  and  is  culinary  and  medicinal. 

Leucanthemum  vulgare,  Lam.  and  T.  and  G.  \       Ox-eyed 
Chrysanthemum  leucanthemum,  L.  J  daisy;  white 

weed.  Natural  in  upper  districts;  collected  in  St.  John's 
Charleston    district;    vicinity  of   Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  394;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med. 
ii,  271;  Nouv.  Journal  de  Med.  v,  208;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot. 
387.  It  is  vulnerary  and  detergent.  Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot. 
iii,  212.  In  Siberia,  according  to  Dr.  Rehmann,  they  em- 
ploy the  plant  in  leucorrhoea.  It  is  not  used  in  this  country. 
Nouv.  Journal  de  Med.  v,  208.  Contraine  states  that  it  is 
a  certain  safeguard  against  fleas,  destroying,  or  driving  them 
oft' in  a  short  time.     Bull.  Acad.  Brux.  viii,  234. 

Antennaria  margaritacea,  R.  B.  T.  and  G.  T       Cat -weed; 

Gnaphalium  margaritaceum,  L.  Ell.  Sk.  -  /  life  -  everlast- 
ing. Grows  among  the  mountains  of  South  Carolina; 
vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach.     Fl.  Sept. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1258.  It  is  employed  in  popular  practice  in 
diseases  of  the  chest  and  bowels,  and  is  externally  applied 
as  a  fomentation  to  wounds  and  bruises.  Schoepf  says  it 
possesses  anodyne  properties. 

Gnaphalium  polyeepkalum,  Mx.  Cat-foot.  Diffused  in 
upper  and  lower  country.  Grows  in  pastures;  collected  in 
St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston;  •STewbem.     Fl.  August. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1258;  Matson's  Veg.  Pract.  275.  "It  proba- 
bly possesses  little  medicinal  virtue."  A  popular  remedy 
in  hemorrhagic  affections,  and  as  a  fomentation  in  bruises 
and  languid  tumors.  The  infusion  is  employed  by  the 
vegetable  practitioners  in  fever,  influenza,  fluor  albus,  and 
consumption.  Acting  probably  as  a  warm  sudorific.  It 
has  a  pleasant,  aromatic,  and  slightly  bitter  taste  when  dry. 

Arnica  nudicaulis,  Ell.  Grows  in  damp,  pine  barrens; 
vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach;  St.  John's,  S.  C;  Florida; 
Richland,  Gibbes. 


427 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  409.  It  is  supposed  that  this  may  be 
used  as  a  substitute  for  the  European  species,  the  A.  Mon- 
tana, which  is  well  known  as  a  powerful  plant,  possessing 
stimulant  properties  ;  directed  with  peculiar  energy  to  the 
brain  and  nervous  system.  It  also  produces  an  emetic  and 
cathartic  effect,  and  is  much  used  by  the  Germans  in  paral- 
ysis, amaurosis,  and  other  nervous  diseases. 

Senecio  aureus,  Ell.  Sk.  Ragwort.-  Mountains  of  South 
Carolina.     Fl.  July. 

II.  S.  Disp.  1295.  It  is  said  by  Schcepf  to  have  been  a 
favorite  vulnerary  with  the  Indians;  the  juice  of  the  plant 
in  honey,  or  the  seeds  in  substance,  are  employed. 

Onicus  benedictus,  T.  and  G.  \      Nat.  along  the  sea-coast, 

Centaur ea  benedicta,~L.  J  near  Beaufort;  collected  in 

St.  John's;   vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  August. 

Trous.  et  Pid.  Traite  de  Therap.  etc.,  i,  253 ;  Pe.  Mat. 
Med.  ii,  408 ;  Ed.  and  Yav.  Mat.  Med.  179 ;  U.  S.  Disp. 
196;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  i,  202;  Woodv.  Med.  Bot.  34,  i,  14; 
Ann.  de  Therap.  1843,  206;  Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  i,  747;  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  171;  Thompson's  Steam 
Pract. 

The  plant  is  emetic,  tonic,  and  febrifugal;  one  drachm  of 
the  powder  of  the  flowers  in  wine,  with  a  decoction  of  the 
leaves,  is  said  to  be  invaluable  in  anorexia,  weak  stomach, 
impaired  by  irregularities  of  diet,  atony,  jaundice,  and  ter- 
tian fevers ;  Thorn.  Fam.  Herbal,  725 ;  Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot. 
iii,  115.  It  is  used,  also,  in  chronic  diarrhoea  and  in  gout. 
Woodv.  he.  cit.  A  decoction  "possesses  marked  tonic 
properties;"  a  large  dose  acting  as  an  emetic,  and  occasion- 
ing a  plentiful  discharge  from  the  cutaneous  surface.  It  is 
employed  as  a  febrifuge  in  dyspepsia,  pleurisy,  and  chronic 
peripneumony.  Woodville  says  the  extract  is  strongly  rec- 
ommended in  the  catarrh  of  children ;  the  seeds  are  very 
bitter,  and  may  be  used  with  the  same  intention  as  the 
leaves.  Rectified  spirits  extract  the  virtues  of  the  plant. 
The  watery  extract  appears,  also,  to  possess  the  emetic  prin- 


428 

ciple.  By  keeping,  a  salt  is  produced  upon  the  surface 
resembling  nitre.  See  Hist,  des  Sc.  de  Berlin,  79;  and 
Duncan's  Edinb.  New  Dispensatory. 

Cynara  scolymus.     Jerusalem  artichoke.     Ex.     Cult. 

I  call  attention  to  this  plant,  as  it  grows  luxuriantly  in 
the  Confederate  States. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  Supplem.  1846,  234. 
"Dr.  Montaine,  of  Lyons,  assures  us,"  remarks  Merat,  "that 
each  year  he  treats  with  success  a  large  number  of  fever 
patients  with  the  extract  of  the  leaves  in  the  form  of  pills." 
Great  use  is  made  of  it  on  the  plantations  in  this  state  as 
a  tonic  and  diuretic  in  dropsy;  the  leaves  are  steeped  in 
rum,  of  which  a  wineglassful  is  administered  three  times  a 
day;  among  the  negroes  I  have  frequently  seen  it  pre- 
scribed with  advantage  in  this  way.  It  is  employed  also  in 
jaundice,  the  expressed  juice  or  the  infusion  being  used;  of 
the  former  two  or  three  spoonfuls  may  be  given;  large 
doses  purge.  We  also  use  the  corollas  for  curdling  milk. 
The  modern  Arabians  consider  the  root  aperient,  and  class 
the  gum  among  their  emetics.  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  284; 
Ainslie,  Mat.  Med.  Ind.  i,  22.  Dr.  Copeman,  pharmaceu- 
tist to  the  hospital  at  Norfolk,  makes  a  favorable  report  on 
the  value  of  the  leaves  in  the  form  of  tincture  and  extract, 
in  rheumatism.  See  London  Med.  Gazette,  1833,  from 
extracts  in  Gazette  Med.  de  Paris,  13th  April,  1833.  Dr. 
Barry  first  employed  the  leaves  in  chronic  jaundice,  and 
Perroton,  of  Lyons,  also  administered  it  frequently  in  the 
same  disease.     Revue  Med.,  Nov.  1845. 

Taraxacum  de)is-leonis,Desf.,  T.  and  Gray.  \     Dandelion. 

Leontodon  taraxacum,,  Ell.  Sk.  /  Collected   in 

St.  John's,  Berkley;  I  have  observed  it  growing  in  the 
streets  of  Charleston  and  New  York;  Newbern. 

Watson's  Pract.  Physic,  39;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med. 
184;  Wilson  Philip,  Diss.  Abdom.  Viscera;  Bell's  Pract. 
Diet.  M.  M.  445;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  453;  Pe.  Mat,  Med.  ii, 
401;  IT.  S.  Disp.  706;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  i,  396;  Brande,  Diet. 


429 

Mat.  Med.  and  Pharm.  v,  632;  Woodv.  Med.  Bot.  39,  t.  16; 
De  Cand.  Prodromus,  vii,  45;  Ball.  Gar.  M.  M.  319 ;  Bergii, 
Mat.  Med.  ii,  687;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  Mat.  Med.  iv, 
87;  English  Physician,  by  Mch.  Culpepper,  gent,  "Student 
in  Physic  and  Astrology,"  p.  109. 

The  root  is  deobstruent,  cathartic,  and  diuretic.  "Good 
in  obstructions  of  the  viscera,  scirrhosities  of  the  liver,  stone 
in  the  gall-bladder,  ascites,  jaundice,  etc."  A  decoction  of 
the  root  is  also  useful  in  impetigo  and  itch;  the  doses  are 
one  drachm  of  the  juice  and  two  ounces  of  the  decoction. 
Thornton's  Fam.  Herbal,  677;  Dem.  Elem.  de  Botanique, 
iii,  169.  At  Gottingen  the  roots  are  washed  and  substitut- 
ed for  coffee  by  the  poorer  inhabitants ;  they  say  the  differ- 
ence between  this  and  the  imported  article  can  scarcely  be 
distinguished.  Murray's  Apparat.  Med.  Withering  men- 
tions that  when  a  swarm  of  locusts  destroyed  vegetation  on 
the  Isle  of  Minorca  the  inhabitants  subsisted  on  this  plant. 
The  great  Boerhaave  entertained  a  favorable  opinion  of  it; 
and  Bergius  found  it  useful  in  derangement  of  the  biliary 
apparatus  from  gall-stones,  etc.  Mat.  Medica.  Delius,  de 
taraxaco  praBsertim  aquse,  etc.  Dr.  Mendelstaed  cured  black 
jaundice  (l'ictere  noir)  with  it.  Van  Swieten,  in  his  Com- 
ment., Zimmermann,  and  Storck  spoke  of  it  in  jaundice  and 
hypochondriacal  affections.  Later  writers  have  confirmed 
these  opinions  expressed  by  those  living  at  an  earlier  period. 
Dr.  Wood,  in  the  IT.  S.  Disp.,  says  that  his  experience  in 
derangements  of  the  biliary  secretions  has  been  decidedly 
in  its  favor,  it  being  particularly  valuable  in  chronic  hepa- 
titis. Eberle  recommends  it  in  chronic  cases  of  infantile 
jaundice:  "Diseases  of  Children."  Griffith,  in  his  Med. 
Bot.  415,  alludes  to  its  use  in  deranged  conditions  of  the 
digestive  organs,  connected  with  an  abnormal  state  of  the 
liver,  and  in  dropsical  effusions  arising  from  the  same  cause. 
In  habitual  costiveness,  dependent  on  a  want  of  due  biliary 
secretion,  it  acts  with  peculiar  benefit;  and,  as  an  adjuvant 
to  more  active  remedies,  where  the  liver  is  indurated,  it  has 
been  prescribed  with  advantage.  It  has  been  employed, 
likewise,  in  affections  of  the  spleen,  uterine  obstructions, 


430 

chronic  cutaneous  disorders,  etc.  "When  its  diuretic  effect 
is  desired,  it  is  advised  that  it  be  given  in  combination  with 
supertartrate  of  potash.  This  plant  is  supposed  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  valuable  properties  as  an  alterative,  and  much  use 
is  made  of  it  among  patients  of  a  strumous  diathesis,  and 
those  affected  with  diseases  of  the  skin.  I  have  seen  it  em- 
ployed to  some  extent  in  New  York  for  these  purposes, 
constituting  an  important  ingredient  of  diet  drinks.  It 
may  be  easily  obtained,  and  might  be  found  of  much  ser- 
vice to  practitioners  residing  in  the  country.  The  young 
shoots  are  eaten  as  salad.  It  has  been  observed  that  the 
flowers  possess  a  certain  degree  of  sensibility;  for  when 
under  the  influence  of  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  on  a  sum- 
mer morning  an  evident  motion  of  the  filaments  is  percep- 
tible. See  MSS.  Lect.  of  Dr.  Hope.  The  plant  should  be 
gathered  in  the  summer  and  early  in  the  autumn.  An 
analysis  of  it  is  found  to  contain  gum,  gluten,  albumen,  an 
odorous  principle,  extractive,  caoutchouc,  a  peculiar  bitter 
crystallizable  principle,  some  salts,  etc.  The  decoction 
made  with  two  ounces  of  the  root  of  a  whole  plant  to  two 
pints  of  water,  boiled  to  one-half,  may  be  given  in  doses  of 
a  wineglassful;  of  the  extract,  the  dose  is  ten  grains  to  a 
half-drachm;  the  latter  should  be  of  a  brown  color,  and 
entirely  soluble  in  water. 

The  young  shoots  are  edible,  and  produce  in  children  a 
diuretic  effect.  The  leaves  and  roots  of  this  plant  are  bit- 
ter, and  contain  a  bitter  milky  juice.  I  have  given  the 
extract  largely  during  five  years  attendance  at  the  Marine 
Hospital,  Charleston;  and  I  ascertain  that  the  extract 
certainly  produces  a  laxative  effect  given  in  from  ten  to 
Shirty  grains — the  same,  or  a  much  larger  quantity,  dissolved 
in  water,  proved  diuretic.  In  this  way  I  account  for  the 
different  qualities  ascribed  to  it.  There  was  always  a  ten- 
dency to  ascribe  a  power  in  the  dandelion  to  act  upon  the 
portal  system.  "The  roots  of  the  plant  were  esteemed  to 
be  diuretic,  saponaceous,  and  resolvent,  and  to  be  powerful 
remedies  for  removing  obstructions  of  the  liver,  and  of  the 
other  viscera."     Their  purified,  expressed  juice  has  been 


431 

given,  from  two  to  six  ounces,  twice,  thrice,  or  oftener  in 
the  day ;  and  infusions  and  decoctions  of  the  herb  and  root 
have  been  used  for  the  same  purpose.  Boerhaave  had  such 
a  great  opinion  of  the  continued  use  of  the  juice,  or  of  the 
infusions  of  the  plant,  that  he  believed  they  were  capable 
of  removing  most  obstructions  of  the  viscera  that  were  to 
relieved  by  medicines.  Bergius,  likewise,  as  was  stated, 
speaks  much  in  the  praise  of  this  simple,  and  says  "that 
he  has  often  seen  it  prove  of  service  after  other  reme- 
dies had  failed;  and  that  he  had  seen  hardness  of  the  liver 
removed  by  patients  eating,  daily,  for  some  months,  of  a 
broth  made  with  dandelion  root,  the  leaves  of  sorrel  and 
the  yolk  of  an  egg  with  water,  while  they  took  at  the  same 
time  cream  of  tartar  to  keep  their  bodies  open;"  and  he 
adds  "that  he  has  seen  a  similar  course  of  service  in  the 
ascites,  and  in  cases  of  gall-stones."  (Thornton's  Herbal, 
677.)  The  yolk  and  yellow  of  eggs  undoubtedly  produces 
a  laxative  effect ;  so  does  the  dandelion  in  the  fresh  state,  or 
in  the  form  of  the  extract.  It  is  a  useful  vegetable  laxative 
in  place  of  calomel.  I  have  seen  a  physician  in  Charleston 
send  to  the  ISTorth  for  the  fresh  plant  while  it  grew  abun- 
dantly at  his  own  door.     Leontodon  contains  caoutchouc. 

Cichorium  intybus. — Wild  endive;  chiccory.  Introduced. 
As  this  plant  is  cultivated  to  some  extent  in  the  Confeder- 
ate States,  and  will  probably  be  largely  required  in  the 
future,  I  insert  the  following,  which  I  find  in  Dickens' 
"Household  Words." 

Chiccory  is  in  truth,  however,  one  of  the  most  harmless 
substances  that  ever  have  been  used  for  the  purpose  of  the 
adulteration  of  coffee,  not  excepting  even  water — as  it  is 
obtained  in  London.  In  the  case  of  all  low-priced  coffee — 
of  all  coffee  purchased  by  the  poor — adulteration  with  chic- 
cory yields  profit  to  the  grocer  simply  because  it  yields  pleas- 
ure to  the  customer.  Good  chiccory  and  middling  coffee 
dexterously  mixed  can  be  sold  at  the  price  of  bad  coffee, 
and  will  make  a  beverage  at  least  twice  as  good,  and  possi- 
bly more,  certainly  not  less  wholesome.     Coffee  that  chic- 


432 

cory  would  spoil  is  bought  by  none  of  the  poor,  and  by  a 
portion  only  of  the  middle  classes.  We  do  not  advocate 
secret  adulteration,  but  we  would  have  the  adulteration  to 
be  made  open,  and  all  people  to  understand  distinctly  that 
since  chiccory  is  altogether  wholesome  it  is  a  matter  that 
depeuds  upon  the  taste  and  the  pocket  whether  they  will 
buy  coffee  pure  or  mixed.  Take  away  all  fraud  from  the 
use  of  chiccory,  and  we  shall  be  glad  to  see  its  use  fairly 
promoted.  Let  us  look  a  little  more  closely  into  the  sub- 
ject. 

Chiccory  is  better  known  to  many  of  us  when  growing 
wild  in  many  parts  of  England  on  dry,  chalky  soils  under 
the  name  of  the  wild  endive;  it  belongs  to  a  tribe  of  com- 
posite plants  called  "the  Cichoracese,"  in  which  are  inclu- 
ded, also,  dandelion  and  the  garden  lettuce.  It  shoots 
above  the  soil  a  tuft  of  leaves,  and  when  it  runs  to  flower, 
sends  up  a  stem  from  one  to  three  feet  high,  rigid,  rough, 
branched,  clothed  with  leaves  and  blue  flowers.  It  has  a 
long  root  like  that  of  a  carrot,  which  becomes  enlarged  by 
proper  cultivation,  and  is  the  part  used  for  the  manufacture 
of  a  substitute  for  coffee.  Every  part  of  the  plant  is  per- 
fectly wholesome — the  root  when  fresh  is  tonic,  and  in  large 
doses  slightly  aperient.  Chiccory  is  cultivated  extensively 
in  Belgium,  Holland,  and  Germany.  It  is  cultivated  in 
France  for  its  leaves,  as  herbage  and  pasturage;  in  Germany 
and  Flanders  for  its  roots.  It  was  first  cultivated  in  Eng- 
land about  1780  by  the  well-known  agriculturist,  Arthur 
Young.  It  is  a  most  valuable  article  of  farm  produce.  On 
blowing  poor  and  sandy  land  it  yields  more  sheep  food  than 
any  plant  in  cultivation ;  it  will  thrive  on  fen,  and  bog,  and 
peat ;  it  is  good  fodder  for  cattle ;  it  is  good  for  pigs.  It 
grows  only  too  readily,  if  that  be  an  objection,  for  if  not 
carefully  extirpated,  it  is  apt  to  become  a  vivacious  weed. 
For  herbage  chiccory  is  sown  precisely  in  the  same  way  as 
clover;  for  the  roots  it  is  sown  and  thinned  in  the  same  way 
as  carrots,  and  taken  up,  as  carrots  are,  in  the  first  autumn 
after  sowing. 

The  great  demand  for  chiccory  has  led  to  its  very  exten- 


433 

sive  cultivation  in  this  country;  considerable  sums  of  money- 
have  been  expended  on  the  kilns  and  machinery  required  to 
prepare  it  for  the  markets,  and  a  large  amount  of  capital  is 
at  the  present  time  profitably  employed  upon  this  new 
branch  of  English  agriculture.  It  is  not  unimportant  to 
notice  that  the  cultivation  of  chiccory  requires  and  remuner- 
ates the  use  of  lands  worth  from  five  pounds  to  eight  pounds 
per  acre;  that  so  far  from  exhausting  the  soil,  wheat  may 
be  grown  upon  it  after  chiccory  with  the  greatest  advantage ; 
that  it  furnishes  occupation  for  a  very  large  number  of  la- 
borers, including  women  and  children,  and  at  a  time  of  year 
when  the  fields  aflbrd  but  little  other  employment ;  and  that, 
consequently,  in  some  parishes,  the  poor's  rate  has  been 
diminished  by  one-half  since  chiccory  was  introduced. 

The  blanched  leaves  of  chiccory  are  sometimes  used  as  a 
substitute  for  endive,  and  are  commonly  sold  as  an  early 
salad  in  the  Netherlands.  If  the  roots,  after  being  taken 
up,  be  packed  in  sand,  in  a  dark  cellar,  with  their  crowns 
exposed,  they  will  push  out  shoots,  and  provide  through  the 
winter  a  very  delicate  blanched  salad,  known  in  France  as 
Barbe  de  Capucin.  When  chiccory  is  to  be  used  for  coffee 
the  roots  taken  up  by  the  grower  are  partly  dried,  and  then 
sold  to  the  manufacturer,  by  whom  they  are  cut  into  slices, 
roasted,  and  ground.  The  ground  chiccory  thus  made  is 
used  by  many  poor  upon  the  Continent  as  a  substitute  for 
coffee  by  itself.  It  has  not,  of  course,  the  true  goftee  flavorr 
but  it  makes  a  rich  and  wholesome  vegetable  infusion  of  a 
dark  color,  with  a  bitterish  sweet  taste,  which  would  prob- 
ably be  preferred  by  a  rude  palate  to  the  comparatively 
thin  and  weak,  and  at  the  same  time  not  very  palatable  in- 
fusion of  pure  coffee  of  the  second  or  third  quality. 

By  the  combination  of  a  little  chiccory  with  coffee  the 
flavor  of  the  coffee  is  not  destroyed,  but  there  is  added  to 
the  infusion  a  richness  of  flavor,  and  a  depth  of  color — a 
body,  which  renders  it  to  very  many  people  much  more 
welcome  as  a  beverage.  The  cheapness  of  chiccory  enables 
a  grocer,  by  the  combination  of  chiccory  powder  with  good 
coffee,  to  sell  a  compound  which  will  yield  a  cup  of  infi- 
28 


434 

nitely  better  stuff  than  any  pure  coffee  that  can  be  had  at 
the  same  price.  Any  one  with  a  sensitive  taste,  and  a  suffi- 
cient purse,  would  of  course  buy  coffee  of  the  finest  quality, 
and  never  think  of  bettering  with  chiccory  the  enjoyment  of 
its  delicate  aroma.  The  majority  of  the  people,  however, 
are  by  no  means  in  this  position.  Coffee,  with  an  admix- 
ture of  genuine  chiccory  (which  we  take  care  to  procure  by 
purchasing  the  article  in  its  raw  state,  and  having  it  roasted 
the  same  as  coffee),  was  preferred  to  coffee  in  its  pure  state. 
The  reason  of  this  we  can  clearly  understand,  and  will  ex- 
plicitly state.  We  can  afford  to  sell,  and  do  sell  a  finer 
coffee  when  mixed  with  chiccory  than  we  can  sell  in  its  pure 
state  at  the  same  price;  and  the  superiority  of  the  coffee  in 
conjunction  with  the  fulness  of  the  chiccory,  in  our  opinion, 
decidedly  gives  greater  satisfaction  to  the  public. 

It  is,  however,  a  rule  that  will  bear  harshly  on  the  com- 
forts of  the  poor  if  coffee  is  to  be  sold  only  in  its  pure  state, 
and  chiccory  cannot  be  obtained  in  any  less  quantity  than  a 
two-ounce  packet.  Two  ounces  of  chiccory  would  go  in 
mixture  to  about  a  pound  of  coffee,  and  there  are  thousands 
who  buy  coffee  itself  by  ounces.  Moreover,  the  chiccory  cof- 
fee sold  by  the  grocer  is  made  with  coffee  of  a  higher  price 
and  better  quality  than  the  poor  man  would  dare  to  give 
for  coffee  bought  pure,  when  he  has  to  make  another  outlay 
upon  chiccory  for  mixing.  The  necessity  of  two  purchases 
would  suggest  the  idea  of  greater  cost,  lead  to  a  desire  for 
more  economy ;  so  in  the  buying  the  poor  man  would  be  a 
loser.  Certainly,  also,  he  would  lose  by  having  to  make  at 
home,  in  his  own  clumsy  way,  the  mixture  which  it  had 
been  before  the  interest  of  the  grocer  so  to  proportion  that 
he  might  bring  custom  to  his  shop  by  issuing  an  article  as 
good  and  palatable  as  any  that  could  be  contrived  by  his 
competing  neighbors. 

"Of  all  the  plants,"  says  Thaer,  in  his  Principles  of  Agri- 
culture, "which  have  been  proposed  as  substitutes  for  coffee, 
and  which  when  roasted  and  steeped  in  boiling  water  yield 
an  infusion  resembling  coffee,  chiccory  is  the  only  one 
which  has  maintained  its  ground.     It  has  been  used  in  this 


435 

manner  for  thirty  years,  even  when  the  price  of  coffee  has 
"been  low;  and  has  always  yielded  considerable  profits,  both 
to  manufacturers  who  prepare  it  in  large  quantities  and 
those  who  cultivate  it  in  their  neighborhood.  It  has  also 
been  cultivated  as  a  fodder-plant,  and  highly  recommended 
by  Arthur  Young  in  England.  A  plentiful  supply  of  fodder 
is  obtained  without  injury  to  the  roots."  See  Thaer  for 
method  of  cultivation,  etc. 

In  Patent  Office  Reports,  1854,  p.  348,  is  a  briet  notice 
of  the  mode  of  cultivating  chiccory.  A  variety  which  the 
French  call  Chicor&e  sauvage  h  cafe,  has  long  fleshy  roots 
like  the  white  carrot,  which  are  used  for  making  coffee. 
"  In  the  Middle  and  Southern  states  the  roots  may  remain 
in  the  ground  during  winter  without  injury  from  frost." 

Among  the  substitutes  for  coffee  employed  in  the  Con- 
federate States  during  its  great  scarcity,  I  may  mention 
rye,  raw  yam  potato,  cut  into  small  fragments,  roasted  and 
parched,  okra  seed,  and  corn  flour  parched  and  ground,  cot- 
ton seed,  the  ground-nut,  Bene,  etc.,  which  have  all  been 
tried. 

Lactuca  elongata,  Muhl.  }  Wild  lettuce.  Damp  soils; 
"  longifolia,  Mx.  /  collected  in  Charleston  dis- 
trict; Newbern.     Fl.  June. 

U.  S.  Disp.  421;  Ann.  de  Therap.  Ann.  1843;  Woodv. 
Med.  Bot.  75-31 ;  see  L.  virosa,  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  iv,  10. 

It  is  said  to  act  as  an  anodyne,  and  to  produce  discharge 
by  the  kidneys  and  skin,  being  similar  in  its  effects  to  the 
L.  virosa  of  Europe;  according  to  others,  it  is  destitute  of 
narcotic  power;  see  M.  Aubergier's  experiments. 

Nabalus  fraseri,  D.  C.  and  T.  and  G.  V    Gall  of  the  earth, 
Prenanthes  alba,  Ell.  Sk.  J    Grows    in   damp 

pine  lands;  collected  in  St.  John's;  Richland;  vicinity  of 
Charleston ;  Newbern. 

The  root  is  excessively  bitter;  it  is  used  in  domestic  prac- 
tice in  this  state  as  a  tonic.  I  would  invite  further  ex- 
amination. 


436 

Sonchus  oleraceus,  L.  Common  sow-thistle.  Diffused; 
collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston;  JSTewbern. 
Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  439.  It  is  said  to  be 
useful  in  stagnation  of  the  portal  circulation ;  according  to 
some,  it  increases  the  secretion  of  milk.  Fl.  Scotica,  428; 
Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  iii,  177.  The  tender  leaves  are  boiled 
and  eaten  in  some  countries  as  greens;  they  are  of  a  cool- 
ing nature,  are  applied  outwardly  as  an  emollient  cataplasm, 
and  are  found  serviceable  in  inflammatory  swellings,  car- 
buncle, etc.  The  flowers  open  at  6,  a.  m.,  and  close  at  12,  m. 
The  roots  are  milky  and  bitter,  but  have  occasionally  been 
converted  into  bread.     Rural  Cyc. 

Plantaginace^;.     (The  Bib-grass  Tribe.) 

The  herbage  slightly  bitter  and  astringent. 

Ptarttago  major.  Plantain.  Nat.  Collected  in  St.  John's, 
Berkley,  near  the  Santee  river;  I  have  also  observed  it  in 
the  streets  of  Charleston;  Richland  district;  Newbern.  Fl. 
June. 

Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  i,  71;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  232;  U.  S. 
Disp.  1289,  App.;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  135;  Mer.  and 
de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  v,  358;  Journal  Univ.  des  Se.  Med. 
xix,  127. 

The  leaves,  when  chewed,  tinge  the  saliva  red.  This 
plant  was  a  popular  vulnerary  and  astringent  once  in  great 
repute.  It  was  also  highly  valued  for  its  efficacy  in  fevers. 
Bergius,  however,  tested  it  with  unfavorable  results.  We 
are  informed  that  "the  seeds  in  milk  will  stop  a  dysentery." 
Boerhaave  states,  from  his  own  experience,  that  the  fresh 
leaves  applied  to  the  feet  will  ease  the  pain  and  fatigue  oc- 
casioned by  walking,  and  that  the  whole  plant  was  esteemed 
useful  in  healing  and  consolidating  ulcers  and  recent  wounds, 
and  as  a  dressing  for  blisters  and  sores.  The  leaves  no 
doubfrmake  a  soothing  application  to  inflamed  surfaces.  A 
decoction  of  the  leaves  in  milk  was  employed  as  a  gargle 
in  inflammation  of  the  fauces,  and  a  collyrium  was  made 
with  a  decoction  of  the  seeds.     Thornton's  Fam.  Herb.; 


437 

Woodv.  Med.  Bot.;  Dem.  Elena,  de  Bot.  85;  Milne,  Ind. 
Bot.  102.  It  was  looked  upon  as  a  panacea  by  the  ancients; 
see  Pliny,  1.  26,  c.  11;  Celsus,  lib.  iii,  c.  22;  Scultz,  Mat. 
Med.  i,  112;  Boyle  de  Util.  Phil.  Nat.  ii,  150;  Petzolat, 
Eph.  Nat.  cur.  cent,  vii,  Obs.  x,  25.  It  was  formerly  carried 
as  an  amulet.  "En  fin,"  remarks  Merat,  "on  a  porte  la 
racine  des  plantains  en  amulet  pour  guerir  ou  prevenir  une 
multitude  des  maladies."  See  the  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  Sup- 
plem.  1846,  567;  Rev.  Med.  Juin,  1837,  399.  Dr.  Perret 
communicated  to  the  Soc.  des  Sc.  Med.  de  Lausanne  a  re- 
port on  the  beneficial  effects  derived  from  the  root  in  vari- 
ous maladies:  Journal  Univ.  des  Sc.  Med.  xix,  127;  and 
Desbois  says  he  has  seen  the  good  effect  resulting  from  the 
use  of  the  leaves  in  scrofulous  ulcers  and  in  indolent  tu- 
mors. Mat.  Med.  ii,  254.  The  authors  of  the  U.  S.  Disp., 
however,  refer  to  it  as  a  plant  of  feeble  power,  allowing  it 
to  be  refrigerant,  diuretic,  deobstruent,  and  somewhat  as- 
tringent. A  chemical  analysis  would  be  desirable,  as  it  is 
probable  that  a  narcotic  principle  exists  in  it. 

Plantago  lmiceolata,VYi.  Ribwort;  snake  plantain.  Grows 
around  Charleston  and  Savannah;  collected  in  damp  mead- 
ows in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Fl.  Scotica,  ii,  1089.  It  possesses  properties  very  similar 
to  the  above.  The  Highlanders  attribute  great  virtue  to 
the  leaves  as  an  ointment  for  healing  up  fresh  wounds. 

Plumbaginace.e.     {The  Leadwort  Tribe.) 

This  order  embraces  plants  possessed  of  very  opposite 
qualities;  part  are  tonic  and  astringent,  and  part  acrid  and 
caustic  in  the  highest  degree. 

Statice  limonium,  Torrey.  V     Marsh   rosemary. 

"  Caroliniana,  Walt.  Fl.  Carol.  /  Grows  on  the  sea- 
shore.    Fl.  Sept. 

U.  S.  Disp.  680;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  251;  Coxe,  Am. 
Disp.  568.  This  is  one  of  our  "most  intense  and  powerful 
astringents;"  much  used  in  New  England  for  all  the  pur- 


438 

poses  to  which  catechu  and  kino  are  applied.  A  large  dose 
acts  as  an  emetic,  and  in  smaller  quantities  as  a  powerful 
expectorant;  it  also  possesses  considerable  antiseptic  power. 
Its  chief  popular  application  is  to  aphthous  and  ulcerative 
affections  of  the  mouth  and  fauces.  Dr.  Balies,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, found  it  highly  serviceable  in  eynanche  maligna: 
he  used  a  decoction  of  the  roots  both  internally  and  locally, 
and  these  beneficial  results  have  been  corroborated  by 
others.  It  is  also  given  with  advantage  in  S.  anginosa,  and 
in  aphthous  fever  attendant  on  dysentery,  where  bark  is  in- 
admissible. From  the  experiments  of  Prof.  Y.  Mott,  in  an 
inaugural  thesis  spoken  favorably  of  by  Dr.  Bigelow,  it 
proved  serviceable  in  chronic  dysentery  after  the  inflamma- 
tory symptoms  had  subsided.  From  his  observations,  as 
well  as  from  those  of  Dr.  Edward  Parrish,  the  cold  infusion 
was  the  best  form.  Dr.  P.  found  it  to  contain  twelve  per 
cent,  of  tannin',  also  gum,  extract,  alkali,  etc.,  but  no  gallic 
acid.  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  xiv,  116;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot. 
525;  Am.  Journal  by  John  Stearnes,  281;  see  S.  limonium; 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  524.  It  was  regarded 
as  an  astringent  in  the  time  of  Pliny ;  lib.  xxvi,  28.  The 
root  is  employed  in  infusion,  decoction,  or  tincture.  Alco- 
hol is  a  better  solvent  of  the  properties  of  the  root  than 
water.  The  infusion  with  cold  water  is  preferable  to  that 
with  hot. 

Ehretiace^e. 

Heliotropium  Indicum.  Turnsole.  Michaux  found  it  at 
the  Eutaw  battle-ground,  St.  John's,  Berkley ;  and  Mr. 
Oemler  in  the  Dutch  Fork,  in  Richland  district.     Fl.  July. 

Ell.  Bot. ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M!  Med.  iii,  462.  It 
has  been  employed  in  the  cure  of  headache.  See  Walke- 
naer,  "Voyage,"  xii,  469.  It  is  used  in  Guinea  and  in 
India.  The  juice  is  applied  to  eruptive  surfaces,  opthal- 
mias,  etc.  Ainslie,  Mat.  Med.  Ind.  ii,  414.  Rottboll,  after 
Sprengel,  says  it  is  a  vulnerary,  employed  in  some  coun- 
tries to  arrest  flooding.  Hist,  de  la  Med.  iv,  467 ;  Abbet, 
Guyane,  i,  117. 


439 

Boraoinaceje.     {The ISorage  Tribe.) 

Characterized  by  soft,  mucilaginous,  and  emollient  prop- 
erties. Some  are  said  to  contain  nitre,  a  proof  of  which  is 
shown  by  their  frequent  decrepitation  when  thrown  on  the 
fire.     Lindley. 

Lithospermum  arvense,  L.  Bastard  alkanet.  Introduced. 
Waste  places,  Florida,  and  northward. 

"Wilson  states  that  the  red  bark  of  the  root  stains  paper, 
linen,  oily  substances,  and  the  human  skin ;  and  that  it  is 
sometimes  used  as  a  rustic  substitute  for  rouge,  and  as  a 
coloring  matter  of  ointments.     Rural  Cyc. 

Cynoglossum  amplexicaule,  Mx.  1  Hound's  tongue.  Wild 
"  Virginicum,  L.       j  comfrey.  Grows  in  shady 

spots ;  Richland  and  Charleston  districts.     Fl.  June. 

The  root  is  mucilaginous,  and  much  emplo}7ed  in  domes- 
tic practice  for  complaints  of  the  lungs,  and  externally  for 
poultices  in  sprains,  bruises,  etc.     Farmer's  Encyc. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  489.  According  to  Clayton,  the  root 
is  astringent,  and  is  administered  in  diarrhoea.  The  leaves 
intoxicate  when  smoked  as  tobacco.  According  to  Griffith, 
it  is  stated  that  the  root  may  be  used  as  a  substitute  for 
comfrey.     Med.  Bot.  500. 

Cynoglossum  officinale,  L.  Introduced.  Waste  grounds, 
North  Carolina,  and  northward.     Chapman. 

The  leaves,  when  touched,  emit  a  pungent  and  disagree- 
able odor,  like  that  of  mice  in  a  trap.  The  plant  is  eaten 
by  goats,  but  is  disliked  by  all  other  domestic  animals.  Its 
roots  have  astringent  and  narcotic  properties — regarded  as 
antiscorbutic.     Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. 

Lamiace^e  or  Labiate.     ( The  Mint  Tribe.) 

These  do  not  contain  a  single  unwholesome  or  even  sus- 
picious species ;  their  tonic,  cordial,  and  stomachic  quali- 
ties are  due,  according  to  Lindley,  to  the  presence  of  an 
aromatic,  volatile  oil,  and  a  bitter  principle. 


440 

Mentha  tenuis.     American  spearmint.     Cult. 

It  is  an  antispasmodic,  and  is  said  by  Culpepper  to  be 
also  an  aphrodisiac.  English  Physician,  by  Nieh.  Culpep- 
per, gent,  "  Student  of  Physic  and  Astrology,"  p.  214.  It 
is  considered  by  the  steam  and  vegetable  practitioners  a 
specific  in  allaying  nausea  and  vomiting.  Thompson's 
Practice,  and  Matson's  Veg.  Pract.  286. 

Melissa  officinalis.     Balm.     Introduced. 

The  balm,  sage,  mint,  and  other  aromatic  plants,  for  the 
most  part  cultivated  in  our  gardens,  need  scarcely  more 
than  a  reference.  The  melissa  is  cultivated  for  bees.  The 
reader  is  referred  to  an  article  on  "Secretion  in  plants," 
in  Wilson's  Cyc,  showing  the  deposits  of  aromatic  and 
other  properties  at  the  base  of  plants,  with  the  theories  of 
De  Candolle,  Macaire,  and  others. 

Mentha  piperita,  L.     Peppermint.     Introduced. 

We  have  also  the  round-leaved  mint  (M.  rotundifolia) — 
introduced. 

They  abound  in  resinous  dots,  which  contain  an  essential 
oil.  The  pleasant,  aromatic,  antispasmodic  properties  of 
these  labiate  plants  are  well  known.  They  flourish  within 
the  Confederate  States,  and  the  essence  and  mint  water  can 
be  extracted  in  any  quantity.  In  Patent  Office  Reports, 
1854,  the  mode  of  culture  of  a  number  of  medicinal  herbs 
is  described,  particularly  the  aromatic  plants,  viz  :  sage, 
mint,  rosemary,  mustard,  etc.,  pp.  367  to  380.  Nearly  all 
the  native  and  introduced  plants  containing  aromatic  oils 
can  be  raised  at  the  South  in  sufficient  quantities  to  supply 
all  demands.  An  establishment  such  as  that  at  New  Leba- 
non, New  York,  and  at  other  localities,  for  the  cultivation 
of  medicinal  and  useful  plants  on  an  extensive  scale,  should 
now  receive  consideration.  See  my  paper  in  De  Bow's  Re- 
view, August,  1861.  .  . 

Ijycopus  Europeus,  Eat.  M.  ^     Water  horehound.    Nat.  in 
"        angustifolius,  and    V  damp  soils;  collected  in  St. 
"        sinuatus,  Ell.  Sk.    J  John's  ;  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton.    PL  July. 


441 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  25;  U.  S.  Disp.  437;  Mer.  and  de 
L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  168;  Matson's  Veg.  Pract.  250; 
Milne,  Ind.  Bot.  34.  This  is  reputed  to  give  an  indelible 
stain  to  whatever  it  touches.  Hoffmann  says  the  gypsies 
use  it  to  disguise  themselves.  It  has  been  highly  spoken 
of  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  in  intermittent  fevers;  Prof. 
Re,  of  Turin,  declares  that  in  doses  of  two  drachms  of  the 
dried  plant  the  most  obstinate  intermittents  were  removed. 
Broffiero  says  it  is  astringent.  See  letter  (in  French)  on 
the  properties  of  L.  Eurojjeus  in  allaying  fever.  Dr.  Brof- 
fiero's  note  in  the  Repertorio  Medico  Chirurg.  832,  and 
Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  505.  It  is  emplo37ed  by  the  vegeta- 
ble practitioners  in  diarrhoea,  atonic  conditions  of  the  di- 
gestive organs,  and  as  a  cleansing  wash  for  sores.  I 
would  invite  attention  to  this  and  the  following,  which  are 
easily  obtained. 

Ly  co-pus  Virginicus,  Mich.  Bugle-weed;  Virginian  ly co- 
pus.  Diffused;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  vicinity 
of  Charleston;  Richland  district.     Fl.  August. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  168.  It  has  been 
administered  internally  with  great  success  in  hemorrhage 
aiid  haemoptysis ;  and  in  phthisis  it  lessens  the  force  of  the 
circulation.  Iu  the  diseases  first  mentioned  Dr.  Silliman 
verifies  the  results  obtained  b}^  Linstey — twent}^  persons 
having  tried  it  with  benefit  in  internal  hemorrhage.  Drs. 
Porter  and  Winkoop  also  report  cases  in  which  they  have 
employed  it  with  success.  See  Journal  des  Sc.  Med.  154. 
According  to  Dr.  Ives,  of  New  Haven,  it' is  a  mild  narcotic. 
Drs.  Pendleton  and  Rogers,  of  New  York,  obtained  favor- 
able effects  from  it  in  incipient  phthisis  and  hemorrhage 
from  the  lungs.  See  New  York  Med.  and  Phys.  Journal 
i,  179;  U.  S.  Disp.  436;  Raf.  Med.  Fl.  11.  As  a  direct 
sedative,  it  is  useful  in  diminishing  the  frequency  of  the 
pulse,  quieting  irritation,  and  allaying  cough.  Practition- 
ers, observes  Griffith  (Med.  Bot.  505),  are  unanimous  in 
declaring  that  it  is  an  important  addition  to  the  Mat.  Med. 
It  appears  to  act  like  digitalis  in  abating  the  frequency  of 


442 

the  pulse;  its  use,  however,  not  being  attended  with  the 
disagreeable  symptoms  sometimes  accompanying  the  em- 
ployment of  the  latter.  An  infusion  may  be  given  ad  libi- 
tum, made  with  one  ounce  of  the  herb  macerated  in  a  pint 
of  boiling  water.  It  imparts  a  black  color  to  linen,  wool- 
len, and  silk.  This  plant  grows  abundantly  in  the  lower 
country  of  South  Carolina. 

Salvia  lyrata,  L.  Caucer-weed.  Grows  in  shady,  rich 
lands ;  collected  in  St.  John's ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ; 
Richland  district;   Xewbern.     Fl.  June. 

Ell.  Bot,  Med.  Notes,  i,  31.  "  The  fresh  radical  leaves  of 
the  plant,  when  bruised  and  applied  to  warts,  generally 
destroy  them;"  continue  the  application  for  a  day  or  two, 
and  renew  it  every  twelve  hours.  The  leaves  of  the 
Hieracium  gronovii  are  also  applied  in  this  way.  The  H. 
venosum  is  announced  as  a  certain  remedy  against  the  bite 
of  the  rattlesnake. 

Salvia  officinalis.     Sage.     Ex.     Cult. 

Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  268  ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  vi,  191.  This  is  a  warm  aromatic,  and  according  to 
the  experiments  of  Ellinger,  is  possessed  of  marked  anti- 
spasmodic power :  it  strengthens  the  circulatory,  cutane- 
ous, and  digestive  functions  ;  stimulates  the  action  of  the 
nerves,  and  has  a  decided  effect  upon  the  cephalic  organs 
(see  Merat  and  authors) ;  prescribed  as  a  stomachic,  and  in 
catarrhal  and  cellular  infiltration,  and  used  as  a  gargle  in 
mucous  angina  and  fungous  ulcers.  uCur  moriaiur  homo 
cui  salvia  crescit  in  hortof  became  an  adage,  so  much  confi- 
dence was  formerly  reposed  in  the  plant.  Its  reputation  is 
most  extensive  in  domestic  practice,  the  warm  infusions 
being  given  as  a  sudorific,  and  in  promoting  the  menstrual 
discharge.  The  plant  is  said  to  have  great  power  in  resist- 
ing the  putrefaction  of  animal  substances.  Van  Swieten, 
Com.  ii,  370  ;  Woodv.  Med.  Bot.  It  is  thought  to  have  a 
remarkable  efficacy  in  stopping  night  sweats,  infused  in 
wine  or  spirits,  and  this  opinion  was  sustained  by  Quarin, 


443 

Methodus  Medend.  37.  Baron  Yan  Swieten  also  found  it 
efficacious  in  restraining  the  inordinate  flow  of  milk  after 
weaning  children.  In  the  English  Physician,  p.  295,  the 
quaint  author,  Nich.  Culpepper,  gent.,  "Student  in  Physic 
and  Astrology,"  mentions  it  as  an  aphrodisiac:  "Helpeth 
conception  and  hinders  miscarriage."  "Jupiter  claims 
this,  and  bids  me  tell  you  it  is  good  for  the  liver  and  to 
breed  blood!"  The  essential  oil  deposits  camphor  in  abun- 
dance, hence  employed  as  a  friction  in  rheumatism,  paraly- 
*  sis,  etc.     Journal  de  Pharm.  xvi,  574. 

I  introduce  the  following  on  the  cultivation  of 
Sage.  —  The  cultivation  of  this  herb  is  among  the  most 
profitable  of  the  market  gardener's  products.  Large  quan- 
tities of  it  are  sold  while  green  during  the  season,  as  every 
housekeeper  uses  it  in  the  cooking  of  game,  or  water-fowl, 
and  it  is  essential  as  a  component  of  sausages,  so  that  tons 
of  it  are  used  in  the  winter  season.  At  the  price  it  is  usu- 
ally retailed  in  the  markets  of  our  larger  cities,  an  acre  of 
sage  plants  will  yield  a  return  of  over  seven  hundred  dol- 
lars; and  at  the  wholesale  price,  it  will  give  a  return  of 
over  three  hundred  dollars  .to  the  acre.  The  seed  can  be 
had  of  most  seedsmen.  It  should  be  sown  in  any  light, 
loamy  soil,  covered  about  half  an  inch  deep ;  and  when  the 
plants  are  about  two  inches  high,  should  be  picked  out  and 
replanted  at  distances  of  about  one  foot  each  way.  As 
soon  as  it  has  grown  so  as  to  begin  to  show  form  of  flower 
buds,  cut  it  off'  to  within  two  inches  of  the  ground,  and  so 
on,  again  and  again,  throughout  the  season.  If  planted  on 
land  thoroughly  drained,  the  plant  will  stand  many  years ; 
but  plants  not  over  two  years  old  produce  the  best  flavored 
leaves. 

Monarda  punctata,  L.  Dotted  monarda ;  horsemint ; 
origanum.  Grows  in  rich  and  damp  soils ;  collected  in  St. 
John's,  where  it  is  found  abundantly ;  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton ;  Richland  district ;  Spartanburg.     Fl.  August. 

Chap.  Therap.  and  Mat.  Med.  ii,  302;  Ell.  Bot.  Med. 
Notes,  30  ;    IT.  S.  Disp.  462 ;  Am.  Med.  Record,  ii,  496 ; 


444 

Ball,  and  Gar.  Mat.  Med.  360 ;  Mer.  and  de  L:  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  iv,  444 ;  Bull  des  Sci.  Med.  de  Ferns,  xi,  302.  This 
is  another  of  our  very  aromatic  indigenous  plants,  possess- 
ing stimulant  aud  carminative  powers,  and  regarded  as  a 
very  popular  emmenagogue  among  those  residing  in  this 
country.  The  French  authorities  speak  favorably  of  it;  an 
aromatic  oil  is  obtained  from  this  ;  and  the  infusion  of  the. 
leaves,  recent  or  dried,  is  very  efficient  in  allaying  nausea 
and  vomiting  in  bilious  fevers.  Dr.  Chapman  mentions 
cases  of  long-standing  deafness  cured  by  the  oil  rubbed  on 
the  head  as  a  counter-irritant.  It  was  used  in  cases  of  this 
description,  and  in  many  diseases,  by  Dr.  Atlee,  of  Phila- 
delphia; see  his  essay;  among  other  affections  in  hemi- 
plegia and  paralytic  diseases,  in  the  sinking  state  of  epi- 
demic typhus,  in  cholera  infantum,  where  there  is  prostra- 
tion of  strength,  and  in  mania  a  potu ;  sometimes  employing 
a  liniment  (see  Chap.  Therap.  and  Mat.  Med.  ii,  305) ;  and 
sometimes  the  undiluted  oil  rubbed  on  the  parts.  The  oil 
is  of  an  amber  color  approaching  to  red,  and  if  exposed  to 
a  great  degree  of  heat,  leaves  a  beautiful  straw-colored 
camphor  ! 

Thymus  vulgaris.     Ex.     Cultivated  in  South  Carolina. 
A  well-known  warm  aromatic. 

Collinsonia  Canadensis.  Gravel  root ;  horseweed ;  knot- 
weed;  Canadian  collinsonia.  Grows  in  the  mountains  of 
South  Carolina.     Fl.  September. 

The  root  is  used  in  colic  from  lochial  discharge.  Linn. 
Veg.  M.  Med.  9.  "  The  infusion  of  the  bruised  root  in 
cider  cured  several  alarming  cases  of  dropsy."  Shec.  Flora 
Carol.  482,  and  Mease's  Domestic  Encyc.  ii,  177.  Dr. 
Wood  says  it  possesses  tonic,  astringent,  diuretic,  and  dia- 
phoretic powers ;  the  root  in  substance,  even  in  small 
doses,  is  said  to  irritate  the  stomach,  and  produces  vomit- 
ing; the  active  principle  is  volatile,  so  that  it  is  best  em- 
ployed, in  the  fresh  state.  The  decoction  is  efficacious  in 
catarrh  of  the  bladder,  leucorrhoea,  gravel,   dropsy,   etc., 


445 

and  as  a  cataplasm  to  internal  abdominal  pains.  IT.  S. 
Disp.  1248.  Merat  says,  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  364,  that  in 
America  it  merits  the  name  all  heal  (gu&rit  tout),  having  the 
properties  referred  to  above.  Drs.  A.  French  and  Beers 
speak  highly  of  it  in  pains  of  the  bladder,  in  ascites,  and 
dropsy  of  the  ovaries;  given,  also,  as  a  powerful  tonic  in 
putrid  and  malignant  fevers,  and  in  leucorrhoea;  the  con- 
tused leaves  are  applied  to  bruises,  lividities  (les  meurtris- 
seurs),  pains  in  the  stomach,  and  as  an  application  to  erup- 
tions produced  by  the  poisonous  sumachs.  (See  Rhus.) 
The  plant,  by  chemical  analysis,  contains  tannin,  gallic 
acid,  extractive  matter,  and  a  coloring  principle.  Op.  cit. 
See,  also,  Ann.  de  la  Soc.  Linn,  de  Paris,  v.  508.  In  his 
late  work,  Griffith  (Med.  Bot.  513)  states  that  externally 
it  has  been  employed  as  a  friction  in  rheumatism.  See 
account  of  it  by  Dr.  Hooker,  of  New  Haven,  Ann.  Linn. 
Soc.  Dr.  H.  thinks  the  infusion  should  be  made  with  a 
gentle  heat,  in  a  close  vessel.  The  best  preparation  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  essential  oil,  which  is  said  to  be  an  excel- 
lent tonic,  given  with  benefit  in  low  fevers,  exhaustion  of 
the  forces,  etc.      This  plant  certainly  merits  further  notice. 

Collinsonia  anisata.     Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  515. 
It  possesses  an  odor  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  anise- 
seed,  having  the  properties  of  the  C.  Canaden. 

Collinsonia  scabra.  Rough-leaved  collinsonia.  Collected 
in  St.  John's,  in  shaded  soils.     Fl.  June. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  364.  It  is  possessed 
of  properties  similar  to  those  of  the  C.  Canaden.  Tonic, 
astringent,  and  diuretic.     See  C.  Canaden. 

Cunila  mariana,  Mx.  Dittany ;  Maryland  cunila.  Grows 
in  the  mountains  of  South  Carolina;  Richland;  I  find  it 
abundant  in  Spartanburg  district,  S.  C. 

Bart.  M.  Bot.  ii,  175 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med. 
ii,  517;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  276;  Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes, 
127.     The  infusion  forms  a  pleasant  and  refreshing  drink ; 


446 

it  is  diaphoretic,  and  is  employed  in  fevers  and  colds.  A 
gentleman  in  Spartanburg  district,  S.  C,  tells  me  that 
in  his  day  "everybody  cured  everything  with  dittany." 
Doubtless  they  took  less  mercury  and  drastic  purgatives  in 
consequence. 

Hedeoma  pulegioides,  Pursh.  Pennyroyal  ;  tickweed. 
Grows  in  the  upper  districts,  and  among  the  mountains  of 
South  Carolina ;  abundant  in  Spartanburg,  S.  C. 

U.  S.  Disp.  365;  Bart.  M.  Bot.  ii,  165;  Lincl.  Fat.  "Syst. 
276,  and  Flora  Med.  491 ;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  508 ;  Raf. 
Med.  Fl.  i,  231 ;  Bart.  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  165.  A  gently 
stimulant  aromatic,  given  in  flatulent  colic,  and  sick  stom- 
ach; also  as  a  stimulant  diaphoretic  in  catarrhs  and  rheu- 
matism. The  warm  infusion  is  a  convenient  and  useful 
prescription,  which  is  largely  employed  in  popular  practice 
in  promoting  the  menstrual  discharge.  It  is  said  that  the 
plant,  or  the  oil  extracted  from  it,  is  an  effectual  remedy 
against  the  attacks  of  ticks,  fleas,  and  mosquitoes. 

Prunella  vulgaris.  Heal-all.  Grows  in  dry  soils;  col- 
lected in  St.  John's,  Berkley.  Fl.  July. 
'  Le.  M.  Med.  ii,  245;  Med.  Diet,  by  Carr,  art.  Brunella  ; 
U.  S.  Disp.  1291 ;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  276 ;  Mer.  and 
de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  v,  520.  This  plant,  though  pos- 
sessing some  power  as  a  stimulant,  has  fallen  into  disre- 
pute. It  was  also  used  as  an  astringent  in  affections  of  the 
throat. 

Scutellaria  lateriflora.  Mad-dog  scull  cap;  hood  wort.  Grows 
along  ditches;  Richland,  Gibbes;  collected  in  St.  John's; 
Elliott  says  it  is  found  in  the  mountainous  districts. 

Watson's  Pract.  Physic,  386  ;  IT.  S.  Disp.  1294,  Appen- 
dix ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  274 ;  Bulletin  de 
la  Faculte,  vii,  191,  aim.  1820,  where  Spalding's  (of  Geo.) 
report  concerning  its  antihydrophobic  virtues  is  referred 
to.  Youatt  spoke  in  favorable  terms  of  this  remedy  as 
enjoying  the  reputation  for  some  time  of  being  the  only 
one  for  this  disease.     See  Watson,  loc.  cit. 


,        447 

Scutellaria  integrifolia,  L.     Diffused  in  swampy  soils :  col- 
lected in  St.  John's ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Ft.  June. 
U.  S.  Disp.  1294. 

Nepeta  caiaria,  L.  Catnip.  Nat.  in  upper  districts  ;  col- 
lected also  in  St.  John's  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Le.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  130  ;  II.  S.  Disp.  191 ;  Ed.  and  Vav. 
Mat.  Med.  216 ;  Bergii,  Mat,  Med.  ii,  540  ;  Mer.  and  cle  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  592 ;  Dem.  Eletri.  cle  Dot,  248 ;  Am. 
Herbal,  26.  This  plant  is  possessed  of  stimulant,  tonic, 
and  warm  aromatic  virtues.  Employed  in  popular  prac- 
tice in  colds,  asthma,  amenorrhcea,  chlorosis,  hysteria,  and 
the  flatulent  colic  of  infants ;  in  the  latter  condition  this 
herb  is  universally  employed.  It  was  also  used  in  yellow 
fever,  and,  like  many  others,  enjoyed  an  ephemeral  repu- 
tation as  a  remedy  in  hydrophobia.  An  iufusion  of  the 
flowers  was  said  to  open  obstructions  of  the  liver  and 
spleen.  In  the  Supplement  to  the  Diet.  Univ.  de  M.  Med. 
1846,  509,  it  is  stated  that  Dr.  Guastamachia  had  used  the 
N.  cataria  with  great  advantage  in  toothache,  caused  by 
cold  or  carious  bone,  mashing  the  leaves  in  the  decayed 
tooth ;  this  produces  an  abundant  flow  of  saliva,  and  causes 
the  pain  to  cease  in  a  few  moments.  See,  also,  Journal  de 
Chirm  Med.  vii,  2d  series.  The  dose  of  the  powder  is  a 
drachm  and  a  half.  This  plant  is  used  by  the  vegetable 
practitioners.  Cats  roll  in  it  with  the  same  avidity  that 
they  do  in  valerian,  and  cover  it  with  their  urine. 

Dracocephalum  variegatum.  Vent.  Grows  in  inundated 
swamps ;  roots  frequently  immersed.  Collected  in  St. 
John's,  Berkley;  in  the  Santee  swamps,  near  Somerset  PL; 
vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  682.  The  organiza- 
tion of  the  peduncle  is  peculiar.  See  observations  on  cer- 
tain phenomena  attending  the  plant  called  the  D.  Ameri- 
canum.  Acad,  des  Sci.  276,  1702.  It  is  supposed  to  pos- 
sess a  "cataleptic  power."  "Pourvues  de  cette  singuliere 
faculte,"  namely:   "  la  propriete,  de  la  cataleptique,  e'est-a- 


448        , 

dire,  de  garder  la  position  dans  laquelle  on  place  la  fleur." 
Siippiem.  to  Diet.  Univ.  de  M.  Med.  252,  1846. 

Dracocephalum  Virginianum,  L.  Grows  in  the  mountains 
of  South  Carolina. 

Its  properties  are  similar  to  those  possessed  by  the  pre- 
ceding. 

Leojiurus  cardiaca,  L.  Motherwort.  Nat.  Grows  around 
buildings  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

"  The  leaves  are  deobstruent,  laxative,  diaphoretic,  em- 
menagogue,  antihysteric,  and  anthelmintic."  Am.  Herbal, 
230 ;  Linn.  Veg.  M.  Med.  168.  L.  states  that  the  herb, 
drunk  as  a  tea,  is  useful  in  hysteria  and  hypochondriacal 
affections.  Griffith,  in  his  work  on  Med.  Bot.  515,  supposes 
it  to  be  tonic,  and  to  relieve  palpitation  of  the  heart.  It  is 
extolled  in  Russia  as  a  preservative  against  hydrophobia. 
In  the  "Indian  Materia  Medica"  it  is  stated  that  "an 
infusion  of  the  plant  is  a  stimulant,  cordial  bitter,  and 
when  taken  at  bedtime  it  procures  a  quiet,  refreshing 
sleep,  even  where  opium  and  laudanum  have  failed."  It  is 
probably  useful  as  an  ingredient  for  a  soothing  tea.  See 
Linden,  "  Tilia." 

Marrubium  vulgare.     Ex.     Nat.     Ilorehound. 

Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  284;  Watson's  Pract. 
Physic,  118  and  332  ;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  273 ;  Trous. 
et  Pid.  Mat.  Med. ;  Traite  de  Therap.  308  ;  Royle,  Mat. 
Med.  470  ;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  89 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  452 ;  Ball, 
and  Gar.  Mat.  Med.  358;  Matson's  Veg.  Pract.;  Cullen, 
Mat.  Med.  ii,  154 ;  Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  558 ;  Wooclv.  Med. 
Bot.  In  the  United  States,  it  is  used  only  as  a  warm, 
aromatic  stimulant.  The  leaves  are  tonic  and  somewhat 
laxative,  and  are  employed  in  colds,  asthma,  hysteria,  and 
meuorrhagic  diseases.  The  warm  infusion  acts  as  a  sudor- 
ific, and  is  applicable  as  a  palliative  in  phthisis  and  perip- 
neumonia, but  is  not  allowed  the  possession  of  any  very 
decided  powers.     In  the  Supplem.,  however,  to  the  Diet. 


449 

Uni.  de  M.  Med.  457,  1846,  it  is  said  to  be  certainly  useful 
in  chronic  rheumatism,  one  ounce  and  a  half  of  the  infu- 
sion being  given  morning  and  evening.  See,  also,  the 
Journal  des  Connaissances  Medic.  Dec.  10,  1836.  Ferrein 
notices  the  root  as  an  excellent  vermifuge.  Mat.  Med.  i, 
279,  iii,  312;  and  Desbois  de  Rochefort  says  the  decoction 
of  three  or  four  ounces  is  a  good  remedy  in  taenia.  Dr. 
Cutler  asserted  that  the  infusion  was  a  very  useful  applica- 
tion in  salivation.  Am.  Herbal,  by  J.  Stearns,  LL.D. 
Griffith  states  that  obstinate  catarrhs  are  much  benefited 
by  the  expressed  juice  taken  in  milk.  Dose,  one  drachm 
of  the  powder,  or  one  ounce  to  two  ounces  of  the  infusion 
made  with  an  ounce  of  the  dried  herb  to  one  pint  of  boiling 
water.  From  this  plant  it  is  well  known  the  candy  so 
much  used  in  pectoral  affections  is  made. 

The  horehound  has  a  bitter  taste  and  an  aromatic  odor. 
"It  possesses  tonic,  diuretic,  and  laxative  properties,  and  it 
seems  to  owe  all  its  powers  to  a  bitter  extractive,  a  volatile 
oil,  and  gallic  acid."  Used  in  coughs,  colds,  asthma,  etc., 
on  account  of  the  combination  of  moderate  qualities  just 
described.  From  the  very  fact  of  its  simplicity,  I  consider 
it  one  of  the  very  best  remedies  for  children  and  infants 
suffering  with  colds  and  coughs.  Given  during  the  day 
with  opiates,  and  nitre  at  night,  it  restores  appetite,  is 
expectorant  and  duretic,  and  thus  removes  the  slight  re- 
mains of  cold  and  fever  so  frequent  with  children.  If  the 
fever  is  a  prominent  symptom  ipecacuanha  should  also  be 
used.  Besides,  it  may  perform  a  most  important  role  in 
taking  the  place  of  more  active  and  injurious  drugs.  I 
know  of  no  better  remedy  for  colds  and  coughs  than  the 
juice  of  horehound  sweetened  and  given  during  the  day. 

Verbenacete.     [The  Vervain  Tribe.) 
Callicarpa  Americana,  Mx.     French  mulberry.     Collected 
in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  in  dry  soils  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ; 
Richland  district;  Newbern. 

Drayton's  View  of  S.  C.  62.     This  is  said  to  be  useful  in 
dropsical  complaints.     It   bears  very   pretty   red   berries, 
29 


450 

growing  in  wliorls  around  the  stem,  which  are  slightly 
sweetish  to  the  taste.  I  could  not  extract  much  coloring 
matter  from  their  skins  with  vinegar  or  alum. 

Verbena  urticifolia,  L.  Kettle-leaf  vervain.  Common  in 
damp  soils;  collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston. 
Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1301.  Boiled  in  milk  and  water,  and  com- 
bined with  the  inner  bark  of  the  white  oak,  it  is  advan- 
tageously used  in  poisoning  from  the  sumachs  (Rhus).  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  868  ;  Journal  de  Med.  lxx, 
529. 

Verbena  hasiata,  L.  Vervain  ;  Simpler's  joy.  Middle 
districts  of  South  Carolina,  and  in  Georgia ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston  ;  ISTewbern.     Fl.  Aug. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1304.  This  is  more  bitter  than  the  European 
species,  and  it  is  said  to  be  emetic.  This  plant  is  described 
by  the  "Cherokee  Physician"  as  an  emetic  inferior  to  the 
"Indian  Physic  ;"  a  decoction  of  the  dry  or  green  herb  or 
a  powder  is  prescribed  like  lobelia.  A  decoction  of  the 
root  is  used  to  check  fevers  when  given  in  the  early  stage. 
The  plant  should  be  examined. 

Verbena  aubletia,  L.  Grows  in  the  middle  districts  of 
South  Carolina  and  in  Georgia.     Fl.  Sept. 

Mer  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  865.  It  is  said  to 
contain  a  very  acrid  mucilage.     Die.  des.  Sci.  ]STat.  x,  426. 

Pedaliace2E.     (The  Oil  Seed  Tribe.) 

Sesamurn  Indicum.  ~)  Bene.  Introduced  by  the  Africans. 
"  Orientate.  J  Fl.  July.  . 
This  is  the  sesame  of  the  Anabasis,  mentioned  also  by 
Dioscorides,  Theophrastus,  and  others.  The  seeds  contain 
an  abundance  of  fixed  oil  as  tasteless  as  olive,  and  for 
which  it  may  be  substituted  ;  it  is  said  to  be  used  ex- 
tensively in  Egypt  and  Arabia.  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  280;  U. 
S.  Disp.  661.     Merat  says  that  in  Egypt  they  drink  large 


451 

quantities  of  the  oil  morning  and  evening,  to  give  them 
embonpoint.  It  is  also  used  medicinally  as  a  laxative,  and 
is  by  some  preferred  to  castor  oil ;  also  as  an  application 
to  furfuraceous  eruptions.  In  India  it  is  regarded  as  an 
emmenagogue  and  as  provocative  of  abortion ;  employed  in 
cutaneous  affections  and  ophthalmia;  a  solution  is  given 
in  colic  and  dysentery,  and  used  as  an  application  for  soft- 
ening the  skin.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  332, 
and  the  Supplem.  1846,  657,  according  to  which  it  is  also 
becoming  an  object  of  considerable  commercial  impor- 
tance, being  substituted  for  olive  oil  in  the  manufacture  of 
Marseilles  soap.  See  Essay  of  M.  Hardy,  Revue  Agricole, 
Avril,  1845, 177.  In  the  Trans.  Phil.  Soc,  it  is  said  that 
one  hundred  parts  of  the  seed  yield  ninety  of  oil.  Coxe, 
Am.  Disp.,  art.  Sesam.  orient.,  states  it  was  found  beneficial 
in  a  dysentery  which  prevailed  in  1803.  We  have  seen  it 
given  to  some  extent,  and  with  great  advantage,  in  New 
York,  in  diarrhoea  and  dysentery,  particularly  in  these 
affections  as  they  occur  in  children;  two  or  three  of  the 
leaves,  thrown  in  water,  are  sufficient  to  render  it  very 
mucilaginous.  This  is  taken  internally.  It  also  serves  as 
a  convenient  vehicle  for  enemata,  gargles,  collyria,  etc.  In 
South  Carolina  the  seeds  are  largely  used  by  the  negroes  in 
making  broths.  They  are  also  eaten  parched,  and  are 
made  with  sugar  into  a  very  nice  candy.  It  might  be 
made  a  source  of  profit  to  raise  the  plant  in  the  Con- 
federate States,  as  it  grows  well  and  the  seeds  bring  a 
high  price. 

The  above  was  contained  in  my  report  on  the  Med.  Bot. 
of  South  Carolina,  published  in  1849. 

The  oil  pressed  from  the  seed  will  keep  many  years 
without  acquiring  any  rancid  taste,  but  in  two  years  be- 
comes quite  mild,  so  that  the  warm  taste  of  the  oil  when 
first  drawn  is  worn  off,  and  it  can  be  used  for  salads  and  all 
the  ordinary  purposes  of  sweet  oil.  In  some  countries  it  is 
used  for  frying  fish,  as  a  varnish,  and  for  some  medicinal 
purposes.  Nine  pounds  of  seed  are  said  to  yield  upward 
of  two  pounds  of  fine  oil.     The  oil   may  be  extracted  by 


452 

bruising  the  seed  and  immersing  them  in  hot  water,  when 
the  oil  rises  on  the  surface  and  may  be  skimmed  off.  But 
the  usual  mode  of  extraction  is  similar  to  that  practised  in 
the  expression  of  linseed  oil.  The  plant  is  generally  sowed 
in  drills  about  four  feet  apart,  in  the  month  of  April.  Am. 
Farm.  Encyc.  I  consider,  after  examination,  that  the  sas- 
safras leaf  contains  more  mucilage  than  the  Bene,  and  that 
both  should  be  gathered  and  cured  for  winter  use  in  mak- 
ing mucilaginous  teas  to  be  used  in  dysenteries,  pulmonary 
diseases,  etc. 

From  a  statement  of  H.  M.  Bry,  of  Louisiana,  P.  O. 
Rep.,  1854,  p.  225,  sixteen  bushels  of  seed  of  Bene  plant 
(S.  orientale)  was  sent  to  a  mill  in  Cincinnati  to  be  manu- 
factured into  oil.  It  yielded  thirty-nine  gallons  of  clear 
oil  and  about  live  quarts  of  refuse  oil,  or  about  two  and  a 
half  gallons  to  the  bushel.  In  consequence  of  the  mill  im- 
parting the  flavor  of  flaxseed  he  could  not  use  it  as  a  salad 
oil,  for  which  purpose  he  was  confident  it  would  be  su- 
perior, when  pure,  to  the  adulterated  imported  olive  oil. 
It  was  used,  however,  as  a  substitute  for  castor  oil.  All 
who  used  it  praised  it  for  its  gently  purgative  effect,  and 
because  it  was  free  from  the  nauseous  taste  peculiar  to 
castor  oil.  Twenty  bushels  is  believed  to  be  a  moderate 
estimate  of  the  amount  of  the  seed  produced  by  an  acre. 
It  yields  a  gallon  of  oil  to  the  bushel  more  than  flaxseed. 

The  excellent  effect  of  the  leaves  steeped  in  water  as  a 
mucilage  to  be  used  in  diarrhoea  and  dysentery  is  testified 
to  by  all  persons  who  have  used  it.  For  this  purpose  two 
or  three  leaves  are  soaked  in  a  tumbler  of  water  and  ad- 
ministered repeatedly.  This  plant  will  act  as  a  substitute 
for  gum-arabic  on  account  of  the  mucilage  it  yields.  It 
should  be  used  in  the  bowel  affections  of  children  and 
among  our  soldiers  in  camp.  Planters  should  collect  and 
cure  all  the  leaves  at  their  disposal.  At  page  838  of  the 
same  volume  another  paper  on  the  Bene  is  to  be  found. 
It  is  there  stated  that  the  plant  will  throw  out  a  great  pro- 
fusion of  leaves  by  breaking  off  the  top  when  it  is  half 
grown. 


453 

Nelson  quotes  Miller  on  the  Bene,  as  cultivated  by  the 
African  negroes  in  South  Carolina:     "The  inhabitants  of 

CD 

that  country  make  an  oil  from  the  seed  which  will  keep 
many  years  and  not  take  any  rancid  smell  or  taste,  but  in 
two  years  becomes  quite  mild ;  so  that  when  the  warm 
taste  of  the  seed  which  is  in  the  oil  when  first  drawn  is 
worn  off  they  use  it  as  a  salad  oil  and  for  all  the  purposes 
of  sweet  oil.  The  seeds  are  also  used  by  the  negroes  for 
food — which  seed  they  parch  over  the  fire  and  then  mix 
with  water  and  stew  other  ingredients  with  them,  which 
makes  a  hearty  food."     Rural  Cyc. 

The  seeds  of  the  Bene,  the  myrtle,  and  the  tallow  tree, 
with  the  fruit  of  the  ground-nut  (Arachis)  might  afford  use- 
ful material  to  the  soap  manufacturers  within  the  Confed- 
erate States.  I  will  insert  here  what  I  have  upon  the 
oleiferous  plants  most  useful  to  us  in  the  present  exigency. 
In  Boussingault's  treatise  on  the  subject  of  oils,  pages  135 
and  139,  he  says: 

"  The  following  sums  may  be  taken  as  a  pretty  accurate 
estimate  of  the  average  quantity  of  oil  yielded  by  the  dif- 
ferent oleaginous  seeds :  colewort,  winter  rape,  and  other 
species  of  cruciferous  plants,  from  30  to  36  and  40  per  cent. ; 
sunflower  about  15  per  cent. ;  linseed  (flax)  from  11  to  22 ; 
poppy  from  34  to  63  ;  hemp-seed  from  14  to  26  ;  olives 
from  9  to  11 ;  walnuts  40  to  70 ;  Brazil  nuts  60  ;  castor  oil 
beans  62;  sweet  almonds  40  to  54;  bitter  almonds  25  to  46: 
Modiva  sativa  26  to  28  per  cent."  I  would  refer  the  reader 
to  a  more  extensive  table  than  this  in  Ure's  Dictionary  of 
Arts.  I  have  little  doubt  that  the  Chinese  tallow  tree 
(StUUngia  sebifera)  introduced  and  growing  around  Charles- 
ton is  richer  than  any  above  mentioned.  Hickory  nuts, 
when  bearing  abundantly,  broken  and  thrown  in  a  vessel 
of  boiling  water,  would  no  doubt  yield  oil  abundantly  and 
cheaply  for  soap.  I  have,  however,  upon  experiment 
found  it  difficult  to  extract  the  oil  (1862). 

The  plants  most  commonly  cultivated  for  the  produc- 
tion of  oil  belong  to  the  genus  Brassica;  all  plants  of  this 
genus  produce  seeds  containing  considerable  quantities  of 


454 

oil,  and  are  sometimes  used  for  obtaining  it.  All  the 
species  are  biennial,  save  the  spring  colza,  or  field  cabbage 
(Brassica  campestris).  It  is  not,  as  some  suppose,  a  degener- 
ated variety  of  autumnal  rape  or  cole  seed,  but  really  a 
distinct  species.  "Thaer's  Principles  of  Agriculture,"  p. 
449.  In  the  description  by  this  author  of  colza  and  rape 
(autumnal  varieties),  he  lays  great  stress  upon  the  great 
value  of  the  colza  [Brassica  oleracea  lacineata,  a  variety  of 
the  garden  cabbage),  as  perhaps  one  of  the  most  abundant 
in  the  oil  it  gives  out.  The  rape,  a  variety  of  the  Brassica 
napus,  is  less  productive.  The  colza  (Brassica  campestris) 
requires  a  dry  soil.  I  introduce  this  information  here 
because  the  plant  might  be  cultivated  to  great  advantage 
in  the  Confederate  States  for  supplying  oil,  and  because 
Thaer  adds  at  the  conclusion  of  his  paper  that  the  seeds  of 
the  ruta.  baga,  or  Swedish  turnip,  which  is  already  grown 
extensively  throughout  the  Southern  states,  are  equally  rich 
in  oil.  For  the  method  of  culture  and  gathering,  see 
Thaer's  work,  published  in  New  York,  1857.  It  is  also  an' 
excellent  plant  for  fodder.  The  seed  does  not  mature  well 
in  South  Carolina.  The  oil  is  obtained  by  a  press  or  oil 
mill.  Even  the  spring  rape  (Brassica  campestris)  yields 
more  than  twenty  pounds  of  oil  per  bushel.  The  rape  is 
grown  and  produces  well  in  Clarendon  district,  S.  C,  Mr. 
Sanders  informs  me.     It  will  produce  seed. 

I  would  particularly  advise  the  extensive  introduction 
and  cultivation  of  the  rape  in  the  Confederate  States,  both 
because  it  grows  and  matures  well,  and  because  of  the 
amount  of  oil  the  seeds  afford,  which  would  supply  what- 
ever is  necessary  in  making  soap  (for  processes,  see  Ure's 
"Dictionary  of  Arts  and  Manufactures"),  and  also  because 
it  would  allow  the  Southern  planter  to  devote  the  tallow, 
grease,  etc.,  which  has  been  economized  for  this  purpose, 
to  the  support  of  his  slaves.  The  Bene  probably  yields  as 
much  oil  as  any  plant  we  possess,  as  I  am  informed  by  a 
practical  gardener.  See,  also,  flaxseed,  Chinese  tallow  tree, 
etc. 

Mustard  seed  oil  concretes  when  cooled  a  little  below 


455 

32°  Fahr.  The  white  or  yellow  seed  (lire's  Dictionary  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  p.  285)  afford  thirty-six  per  cent,  of  oil, 
and  the  black  seed  eighteen  per  cent.  I  would  refer  the 
inquirer  to  Ure's  Dictionary  for  paper  on  the  subject  of  the 
oils,  mode  of  obtaining,  etc.  Also  to  Kurten's  work  on 
the  "Art  of  manufacturing  Soaps,  including  the  most 
recent  discoveries — with  receipts  for  making  camphene  oil, 
candles,  etc.  Phil.:  Lindsay  &  Blakiston,  1854."  This 
treatise  gives  very  plain  directions  concerning  the  articles 
necessary.  In  Ure's  Dictionary  a  plan  of  an  oil  mill  is 
given,  and  information  on  "seed  crushing"  and  extraction 
of  all  oils.  Ure  says  that  the  oil  of  colza  is  obtained  from 
the  seeds  of  the  Brassica  campestris  to  the  amount  of  thirty- 
nine  per  cent,  of  their  Aveight.  "  It  forms  an  excellent 
lamp  oil,  and  is  much  employed  in  France."  Hemp-seed 
oil  resembles  the  preceding,  but  has  a  disagreeable  smell 
and  a  mouldish  taste.  It  is  used  extensively  for  making 
both  soaps  and  varnishes.  Linseed  oil  is  obtained  in  great- 
est purity  by  cold  pressure,  but  by  a  steam  heat  of  200° 
Fahr.  a  very  good  oil  may  be  procured  in  larger  quantity. 
"The  proportion  of  oil,"  Ure  adds,  "usually  stated  by 
authors  is  twenty-two  per  cent,  of  the  weight  of  the  seed, 
but  Mr.  Blundell  informs  me  that  by  his  plan  of  hydraulic 
pressure  he  obtained  from  twenty-six  to  twenty-seven." 
In  the  Encyc.  31etropolitana,  under  "Oil-press,"  a  quarter  of 
seed  (whose  average  weight  is  four  hundred  pounds)  is  said 
to  yield  twenty  gallons  of  oil.  ISTow,  as  the  gallon  of 
linseed  oil  weighs  9.3  pounds,  the  total  product  will  be 
one  hundred  and  eighty-six  pounds,  which  amounts  to 
more  than  forty-five  per  cent.,  an  extravagant  statement, 
about  double  the  ordinary  product  in  oil  mills,  etc.,  etc. 
When  kept  long  cool,  in  a  cask  partly  open,  it  deposits 
masses  of  white  stearine  along  with  a  brownish  powder. 
This  stearine  is  very  difficult  of  saponification.  The 
reader  is  referred  to  the  last  paragraph  of  p.  297  of  Ure's 
Dictionary,  vol.  ii,  and  all  of  p.  298,  ending  at  word 
"Dutch  plan,"  top  of  p.  299;  and  on  the  subject  of  oils, 


456 

soap,  candles,  starch,  and  sugar,  I  would  refer  to  the  same 
work,  where  many  of  the  best  processes  are  described. 

Chaptal,  in  his  Chemistry  applied  to  Agriculture,  makes 
the  following  practical  remarks  on  oils:  "The  oils  are  fat, 
unctuous  bodies,  of  various  degrees  of  fluidity,  insoluble  in 
water,  forming  soap  with  the  alkalies,  and  burning  and 
evaporating  at  different  temperatures.  It  is  the  last  char- 
acteristic particularly  which  establishes  that  difference 
among  them  by  which  they  are  divided  into  fixed  and 
volatile  oils.  The  fixed  oils  are  contained  in  seeds  and 
fruits,  from  which  they  are  extracted  by  pressure.  The 
first  portion  which  is  expressed  is  the  purest,  and  is  known 
by  the  name  of  virgin  oil ;  that  which  follows  is  rendered 
more  or  less  impure  by  the  mixture  of  other  principles 
contained  in  the  fruit  submitted  to  compression.  It  is 
particularly  by  the  mucilage,  which  is  found  in  greater  or 
less  quantity  in  all  vegetables, .  that  the  purity  of  oil  is 
affected.  After  all  the  oil  which  can  be  extracted  by  press- 
ure has  been  drawn  off,  it  is  customary  to  moisten  the 
mash  with  boiling  water  and  to  subject  it  to  another  and 
more  powerful  pressure ;  but  the  oil  thus  obtained  carries 
with  it  a  large  portion  of  mucilage,  and  is  usually  em- 
ployed only  in  some  of  the  trades.  In  some  countries  it  is 
customary  to  collect  the  fruits  into  heaps  and  to  subject 
them  to  a  degree  of  fermentation  before  pressure  ;  by  this 
means  the  extraction  of  the  oil  is  rendered  easier  and  the 
quantity  of  it  is  increased,  but  the  quality  of  it  is  much 
injured.  Similar  results  are  obtained  by  breaking  the  fruit 
previous  to  expressing  the  oil.  It  would  be  hardly  right 
to  condemn  these  last  methods  as  erroneous,  because  in 
the  numerous  soap-works,  dye-houses,  cloth  manufactories, 
etc.,  this  quality  of  oil  is  preferred  to  that  which  is  purer. 
The  learned  will  do  well  to  condemn  the  processes  now 
employed  for  procuring  the  fine  oils,  and  to  present  others 
by  which  we  may  obtain  them  purer  and  of  a  better  taste; 
but  the  grand  consumption  of  the  oils  is  in  the  manufacto- 
ries, and  there  the  fine  oils  would  but  imperfectly  replace 
those  of  a  coarser  kind;   thus,  by  perfecting  the  produce 


457 

the  usefulness  of  it  would  be  lessened.  '  When  oil  is  to  be 
extracted  for  domestic  purposes  it  is  without  doubt  desira- 
ble that  it  be  obtained  as  pure  as  possible,  but  that  which 
is  destined  to  be  employed  in  the  trades  and  in  manufac- 
tures, as  in  that  of  soaps  for  example,  is  the  better  for 
being  combined  with  a  portion  of  mucilage.  The  great 
art  of  manufacturing  consists  in  appropriating  the  prod- 
ucts to  the  wants  and  tastes  of  consumers.  When  mucil- 
age is  so  abundant  in  an  oily  seed  that  it  yields  upon 
expression  only  a  pasty  combination  of  mucilage  and  oil, 
the  seed  is  dried  by  fire;  when  the  mucilage  is  thus  de- 
prived of  fluidity  the  oil  flows  off  pure.  In  this  manner 
the  seeds  of  flax,  of  poppies,  of  henbane,  etc.,  are  prepared 
for  expression.  Nearly  all  the  oils  are  colored,  and  contain 
some  of  the  principles  of  the  fruits  from  which  they  are 
procured;  these  are  in  some  of  their  effects  injurious  to  the 
oil,  and  great  pains  have  been  taken  to  find  some  means  of 
freeing  it  from  them.  Oil  is  clarified  to  a  certain  degree 
merely  by  standing  in  a  cool  place  in  open  earthen  vessels; 
it  forms  a  deposit,  and  is  thus  rendered  purer,  clearer,  and 
better.  If  oil  is  exposed  to  the  sun  it  gradually  loses  its 
color.  In  order  to  clarify  the  oil  of  mustard  one  per  cent, 
of  sulphuric  acid  is  put  into  a  large  earthen  pan  into 
which  the  oil  is  thrown  and  carefully  stirred ;  the  oil 
becomes  green,  and  upon  being  allowed  to  remain  at  rest 
forms  upon  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the  pan  a  blackish 
deposit,  which  is  principally  composed  of  carbon  ;  the 
process  must  be  repeated  after  a  few  days  if  the  oil  has  not 
acquired  the  wished  for  clearness.  But  before  using  the 
oil  it  ia  necessary  that  it  be  allowed  to  remain -for  some 
time  undisturbed.  In  this  operation  the  mucilage  appears 
to  be  precipitated  and  consumed  by  the  acid.  Most  fixed 
oils  contain  some  mucilage,  and  most  of  them  become 
rancid. 

"  Most  fixed  oils  have  but  in  a  very  slight  degree  the 
property  of  drying,  but  some  of  them  acquire  it  by  being 
combined  with  some  metallic  oxide,  and  this  greatly  in- 
creases  the   use    of  them,    as   they   can    in   this   way   be 


458 

employed  as  varnishes  for  covering  bodies  which  it  is 
necessary  <to  preserve  from  air  and  water,  or  as  the 
recipients  of  colors  to  be  used  in  painting  upon  cloth, 
wood,  or  metal.  The  best  drying  oils  are  those  of  flax- 
seed, nuts,  and  poppies.  Linseed  oil  will  dissolve  at 
boiling  temperature  one-quarter  of  its  weight  of  that  oxide 
of  lead  known  in  commerce  by  the  name  of  litharge.  It 
becomes  brown  in  proportion  as  the  oxide  is  dissolved ; 
when  saturated  with  the  oxide  it  thickens  by  cooling,  and 
it  is  necessary  to  render  it  liquid  by  heat  at  the  time  of 
using  it.  In  consequence  of  the  numerous  purposes  to 
which  the  fixed  oils  are  applied  the  consumption  of  them 
is  immense ;  they  form  the  basis  of  the  soaps,  both  soft 
and  hard,  according  as  they  are  combined  with  potash  or 
soda ;  they  are  used  to  fix  in  the  most  durable  manner 
upon  cotton  the  colors  obtained  from  madder ;  they  are 
employed  to  facilitate  the  operations  in  all  establishments 
for  carding  and  spinning  wool.  It  is  by  the  use  of  oil  that 
the  play  of  all  machinery  is  rendered  more  regular  and 
easy,  and  that  friction  is  moderated,  and  by  it  metals  are 
preserved  from  rusting.  The  most  important  use  to  which 
oil  has  been  applied  is  that  of  lighting  buildings,  the 
defects  of  the  light  being  remedied  by  argands  and  other 
lamps  which  aid  in  the  consumption  of  the  carbon  by 
admitting  more  air  to  the  wick. 

"The  volatile  oils  do  not  belong  exclusively  to  any  one 
part  of  plants;  in  some,  as  in  the  Bohemian  angelica,  the 
oil  is  distributed  throughout  the  whole  plant;  sometimes,  as 
in  balm,  mint,  and  wormwood,  it  is  found  in  the  leaves  and 
stalks;  the  elecampane,  florence  iris,  and  bennet  contain  it 
in  their  roots;  thyme  and  rosemary  in  their  leaves  and 
flower  buds;  lavender  and  the  rose  in  their  calyces;  chamo- 
mile, lemon,  and  orange  plants  in  their  flowers;  the  petals 
and  the  rind  of  the  fruit  of  the  two  last  abound  in  oil ;  that 
of  the  indigo  and  fennel  is  contained  in  vessels  forming  the 
raised  lines  which  may  be  perceived  on  the  bark.  Volatile 
oils  vary  in  color,  consistency,  and  weight;  there  are  some, 
as  those  of  sassafras  and  the  clove,  for  instance,  which  are 


459 

heavier  than  water;  and  there  are  some,  as  those  of  the  rose 
and  parsley,  that  remain  in  a  concrete  state  at  the  usual 
temperature  of  the  air,  etc. 

"  The  volatile  oils  are  extracted  either  by  distillation  or 
expression.  When  the  oil  is  contained  in  vesicles  upon 
the  surface  of  the  rind,  as  in  those  of  the  lemon  and  berga- 
mot,  the  cells  may  be  broken  and  the  oil  caused  to  flow  out 
by  merely  rubbing  the  rinds  together;  or  the  rinds  may  be 
taken  off  by  grating,  and  the  oil  separated  from  the  pulp  by 
a  light  pressure,  or  by  allowing  the  whole  to  remain  undis- 
turbed for  a  few  days,  when  the  pulp  will  settle  at  the  bot- 
tom and  the  oil  remain  floating  above  it.  When  these  rinds 
are  scraped  with  a  bit  of  sugar,  the  oil  combines  with  it, 
forming  an  oleosaccharum,  useful  in  giving  a  pleasant  flavor 
to  liquors." 

Count  Chaptal  gives  this  simple  process  for  extraction  of 
oils:  "With  the  exception  of  the  oils  of  which  I  have  just 
spoken,  all  the  volatile  oils  are  extracted  by  distillation;  in 
this  process  the  plant  is  put  into  the  boiler  of  the  alembic 
and  covered  with  water;  when  the  water  boils  the  oil  rises 
with  the  steam,  and  is  condensed  with  that  in  the  worm  of 
the  still,  whence  they  flow  together  into  the  receiver ;  the 
oil  which  swims  upon  the  top  is  separated  from  the  water, 
and  this  water,  which  has  a  milky  appearance,  is  again  em- 
ployed from  preference  in  new  distillations.  It  is  customary 
to  make  use  of  a  narrow  straight-necked  vessel  as  a  re- 
ceiver; the  oil  collects  in  the  upper  part  of  this,  while  the 
water  passes  off"  through  a  siphon  in  the  side  about  four 
inches  below  the  neck.  In  the  south  of  Europe  where 
great  quantities  of  the  volatile  oils  are  prepared,  the  distil- 
lers place  their  portable  apparatus  in  the  open  air,  in  those 
places  which  offer  a  plentiful  harvest  of  aromatic  plants ; 
when  these  are  exhausted  they  remove  elsewhere. 

"  The  aromatic  oils  are  employed  particularly  as  perfumes, 
and  for  this  purpose  are  often  combined  with  other  sub- 
stances. They  are  likewise  used  in  the  manufacture  of  var- 
nishes, from  the  readiness  with  which  they  dissolve  colors, 
and  from  their  quick  evaporation  after  being  applied." 


460 

At  Cannes,  in  the  south  of  France,  I  have  myself  wit- 
nessed the  operations  for  extraction  of  essence  of  roses, 
which  are  planted  in  great  abundance.  On  the  plantations 
in  South  Carolina  rose-water  is  distilled  from  the  petals  of 
the  sweet  rose  by  a  simple  process. 

Bignoniace^;.     (The  Trumpet-flower  Tribe.) 

Bignonia  crucigera,  Walt.  (N.  A.F.)  1  Rich,  shaded  soils; 
"  capreolata,  L.  and  Ell.  Sk.  /  collected  in  St.  John's, 
Berkley;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  March. 

Shec.  Flora  Carol.  278.  See  B.  crucigera,  Walt.  The 
root  and  vine,  in  infusion  or  decoction,  answer  the  purpose 
of  sarsaparilla.  It  is  detergent  and  alterative,  aperient, 
diuretic,  and  sudorific,  used  in  syphilis,  chronic  rheumatism, 
and  in  derangements  arising  from  impurities  of  the  blood. 
The  pith  is  said  to  be  divided  longitudinally  into  four  equal 
parts,  so  that  when  the  stem  is  cut  transversely  it  exhibits 
the  appearance  of  a  cross,  and  hence  Walter's  name.  This 
vine  appears  to  be  possessed  of  instinct;  it  shoots  up  to  the 
highest  tops  of  trees  before  sending  out  a  branch. 

Bignonia  catalpa,  Mx.       1    Catalpa.     Grows  in  the  upper 
Cataljja  cordifolia,  Ell. Sk.  J  and   lower   country   of  South 
Carolina;  collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl.  May. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.;  Supplem.  1846,  107. 
The  physicians  at  Naples,  after  the  favorable  report  of  Thun- 
berg  and  Keempher,  as  well  as  those  of  Brera,  have  given 
incontestable  evidence  of  the  advantages  resulting  from  its 
use  in  asthma.  The  decoction  of  the  fruit  is  also  employed. 
See  Gazette  Medicale,  8,  1834;  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  x, 
164.  Ksempher  says  he  also  applied  the  leaves  to  the  pain- 
ful part.  Poultry  are  said  to  thrive  on  and  to  be  fond  of 
the  seeds.  The  timber  makes  durable  posts.  I  find  no 
notice  of  the  plant  in  the  American  works.  The  honey 
collected  from  the  flowers  is  somewhat  poisonous — resem- 
bling, though  less  active,  that  collected  from  the  yellow 
jessamine.     See  following. 


461 

Gelseminum  sempervirens,  Juss.  Jessamine.  Grows  in 
swamps;  diffused  through  the  alluvial  regions.  It  is  ob- 
served that  it  is  gradually  gaining  ground  in  the  upper 
country.  I  have  noticed  it  just  beyond  Columbia,  and 
near  Norfolk,  Va. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  312 ;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  490. 
"Possessed  of  narcotic  properties  to  a  very  considerable 
degree."  A  spirituous  tincture  of  the  root  is  used  with 
success  in  rheumatism.  It  is  also  employed  in  gonorrhoea  ; 
ninety  drops  of  the  bark  of  the  root  in  tincture,  taken  in 
three  doses,  produce  vertigo,  perverted  vision,  etc.  Its 
marked  effect  on  the  nervous  system  has  been  repeatedly 
observed. 

The  root  of  the  jessamine  has  been  much  more  freely 
used  since  the  publication  of  my  report  on  the  Med.  Bot. 
of  South  Carolina,  made  to  the  Am.  Med.  Association,  1849. 
Special  articles  can  be  found  descriptive  of  its  uses  in  the 
Charleston  Medical  Journal.  Dr.  Mays,  of  South  Carolina, 
has  contributed  one  of  these.  Drs.  Ford  and  White  used 
the  tincture  of  the  root  as  they  did  that  of  the  Vercdrum 
viride  in  yellow  fever,  for  its  depressing  influence  upon  the 
circulation  ;  see  Ch.  Journal.  Many  employ  the  tincture  of 
the  root  in  fevers ;  it  acts  in  a  manner  similar  to  digitalis 
and  V.  viride,  with  the  addition  of  some  narcotic  property. 
It.  has  to  be  used  with  caution  on  these  accounts,  and  because 
it  induces  delirium  in  overdose.  I  regret  my  inability  at  this 
moment  to  make  direct  reference  to  the  authorities.  Stille's 
Therap.  and  Dunglison's  New  Remedies  may  be  consulted. 
My  venerable  friend  Dr.  John  Douglass,  of  Chester,  S.  C, 
writes  me  that  he  has  used  it  repeatedly  with  advantage  in 
gonorrhoea;  see  his  letter  which  I  published  in  Ch.  Med. 
Journal.  The  active  principle,  gelseminine,  is  much  used 
latterly  by  a  certain  school  of  practitioners  at  the  North 
and  West,  with  other  substances  of  similar  nomenclature. 

I  give  the  following  statement  of  the  method  of  extract- 
ing the  perfumed  oil  of  flowers,  as  it  may  enable  those 
living  where  the  jessamine,  rose,  violet,  and  other  flowers 
bloom  in  such  abundance,  to  prepare  it.     "The  essence  of 


462 

rose,  of  jessamine,  violet,  etc.,  are  possessed  of  a  more  fee- 
ble odor,  and  being  obtained  from  the  flowers  of  their  re- 
spective plants,  require  much  care  in  their  preparation. 
This  is  done  by  spreadiug  upon  white  wool,  impregnated 
with  olive  oil,  the  petals  of  the  flowers,  and  leaving  them 
for  some  time  covered  over  with  a  woollen  cloth,  upon 
which  flowers  are  also  scattered.  The  flowers  are  renewed 
from  time  to  time,  until  the  olive  oil  employed  appears  to 
be  saturated  with  the  oil  of  the  flowers,  when  this  last  is 
separated  by  digesting  the  wool  in  alcohol."  "Wilson's 
Rural  Cyc. ;  consult,  also,  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  and 
Chaptal's  Chemistry  applied  to  Agriculture;  also  Bene 
(Sesamum)  in  this  volume.  I  have  seen  in  the  south  of 
France  young  girls  manufacturing  essence  of  rose.  Our 
Southern  matrons  do  not  lack  jessamine  flowers  or  rose 
petals  for  making  perfumes,  essences,  rose-water,  etc. 

VALEMANACEiE.     (Valerian  Tribe.) 
Valeriana  scandens,  L.     East  Florida.     Chap. 
"We  have  also  V.  pauciflora,  Mx.     Growing  on  mountains 

of  Tennessee.     They  should    be  examined  on  account  of 

their  relations  with  the  officinal  valerian. 

Acanthaceje.     ( The  Justicia  Tribe.) 

Huettia  strepens,  L.  Grows  in  pine  barrens  ;  collected  in 
John's  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Ainslie,  ii,  153 ;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  285.  The  leaves 
are  said  to  be  subacrid. 

Orobanchace^:.     (The  Broom-rape  Tribe.) 
Orobanche  uniflora,,  L.     Squaw-root;  cancer-root;  broom- 
rape.     Grows  in  pine  barrens  in  the  middle  district. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1282.  It  is  said  to  possess  properties  similar 
to  the  following : 

Orobanche  Virginiana,  L.  \      Beech-drop.    Grows  on 

JEpiphegus  Americana,  Nut-tall.  J  beech  trees  exclusively; 
vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  Newbern.     Fl.  August. 


463 

U.  S.  Disp.  128.  It  has  a  bitter,  nauseous,  astringent 
taste,  diminished  by  drying;  it  is  given  internally  in  bowel 
affections.  Dr.  Barton  thought  it  was  one  of  the  ingredi- 
ents of  a  secret  remedy  for  cancer,  known  as  Martin's  can- 
cer powder.  This  is  supposed  to  possess  some  of  the  pow- 
erful astringency  belonging  to  the  0.  major.  Michaux  says 
that  in  Virginia  they  use  the  powder  in  inveterate  ulcers 
and  cancers.  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  288;  Bart.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  38; 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iv,  102. 

Orobanche  Americana,  L.  Collected  in  St.  John's  in  rich 
soils ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

This  has  been  also  used  as  a  remedy  in  carcinomatous 
affections,  ulcers,  etc. 

ScrophulariacEjE.     (The  Figwort  Tribe.) 

Generally  acrid  and  bitterish,  sometimes  dangerous  in 
their  properties. 

Verbascum  ihapsus,  Walt.  Mullein.  Diffused;  grows  in 
pastures,  upper  and  lower  country  of  South  Carolina ; 
vicinity  of  Charleston ;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Le.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  440 ;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  295  ;  U.  S. 
Disp.  735;  Watson's  Pract.  Physic,  202;  Royle,  Mat.  Med. 
493 ;  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  ii,  223 ;  Home,  Clin.  Experi- 
ments and  Hist.;  Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  i,  118;  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  864;  Bull,  des  Sc.  Med.  de  Ferus, 
xvi,  341.  The  leaves  of  the  flowers  contain  a  narcotic 
principle  ;  a  decoction  of  the  flowers  and  leaves  as  tea,  is 
beneficial  in  dysentery  and  tenesmus ;  it  calms  pain  in  the 
fundament  caused  by  hemorrhoids ;  and  it  is  used  in  the 
convulsions  of  infants,  in  ardor  urinse,  and  wherever  the 
indication  is  to  moderate  spasm  or  irritation.  A  large 
quantity  of  the  flowers  will  even  induce  sleep,  so  active  is 
the  narcotic  principle  it  contains.  Dem.  ltllem.  de  Bot.  ii, 
135;  Milne,  Ind.  Bot.  293.  The  leaves  of  mullein,  warmed 
and  applied  to  the  feet,  have  given  relief  to  those  affected 
with  gout;  and  the  distilled  water  of  the  flowers  has  been 


464 

used  effectually  in  diseases  of  the  skin;  Merat  says  in  ery- 
sipelas and  colics.  Scopoli  relates  that  in  Carniola  mullein 
is  esteemed  valuable  in  the  pulmonary  complaints  affecting 
cattle  (hence  called  cow's  lungwort).  "The  roots,  both 
recent  and  dried,  have  the  property  of  fattening  poultry, 
even  to  obesity."  Thornton's  Fam.  Herbal,  238.  It  is 
useful  in  stopping  or  diminishing  diarrhoeas  of  long  stand- 
ing, and  often  in  easing  pain  of  the  intestines,  which  is  ac- 
counted for  by  the  anodyne,  emollient,  and  gently  astrin- 
gent qualities  of  the  plant.  Woodv.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  343. 
Linnaeus  states,  in  his  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  31,  that  fish  will 
become  so  stupefied  by  eating  the  seeds  as  to  allow  them- 
selves to  be  taken.  See,  also,  the  JEsculus  pavia,  which 
possesses  similar  powers.  Dr.  Wood  refers  to  its  value  in 
pectoral  diseases,  coughs,  etc.  U.  S.  Disp.  736.  The 
leaves,  steeped  in  hot  water,  are  applied  externally  as  a 
feeblj7  anodyne  emollient  dressing  for  sores,  and  are  much 
used  by  the  poorer  class.  Equal  parts  of  mullein  leaves 
and  the  bark  of  the  root  of  sassafras  boiled  in  water  and 
concentrated,  then  mixed  with  powdered  sassafras  bark  to 
form  pills,  are  reputed  valuable  in  the  treatment  of  agues 
by  the  herbalists.  See  "Indian  Guide  to  Health."  Taken 
internally,  the  dose  is  four  ounces,  one  ounce  of  the  leaves 
being  added  to  one  pint  of  water.  It  would  be  desirable 
to  obtain  an  analysis  of  this  plant. 

Verbascum  lychnitis,  L.  Grows  iu  South  Carolina,  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Muhlenberg.     Fl.  July. 

Dem.  filem.  de  Bot. ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med. 
vi,  863.  The  root  has  been  used  in  jaundice.  Durand 
gave  an  extract  of  the  leaves  iu  this  disease,  in  pectoral 
affections,  and  in  colics ;  no  doubt  beneficial,  from  its 
sharing  the  possession  of  the  narcotic  principle  ascribed  to 
the  V.  thapsus. 

Griffith  states  that  the  flowers  are  said  to  destroy  mice. 
Med.  Bot.  517. 

Verbascum  blatiaria.     Moth  mullein.     Grows  abundantly, 


465 

according  to  Elliott,  in  the  middle  and   upper  districts ; 
sparingly  in  the  lower;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley; 
near  the  bridge  at  the  Big  Camp,  on  the  Santee  canal; 
vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach.     Fl.  March. 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  86^ 

Serophularia  nodosa,  Linn.  (Prodrom.)  V       Vicinity  of 

"  Marylandica,  Ell.  Sk.         J  Charleston,  Bach. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  518.  It  is  vulnerary  and  soothing, 
when  applied  as  a  poultice  to  ulcers,  burns,  etc. 

Chelone  glabra,  L.  Snake-head.  Grows  in  damp  soils ; 
Richland  district;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  viciu- 
ity, of  Charleston;  Xewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot,  520.  In  small  doses  it  is  laxative; 
large  quantities  purge.  It  acts  on  the  liver;  one  drachm 
of  the  powder  may  be  given  at  once.  It  is  administered 
by  the  vegetable  practitioners  as  an  anthelmintic ;  also  in 
jauudice,  in  hepatic  disorders  generally,  and  in  constipa- 
tion. It  is  prescribed  as  an  alterative  and  tonic  in  impure 
conditions  of  the  blood — 'the  decoction,  powder,  or  tincture 
used. 

Digitalis  -purpurea.     Digitalis ;  foxglove. 

It  is  stated  in  one  of  the  gazettes  that  this  plant  grows 
native  around  Charleston!  See  Shec,  Flora  Carol.  305. 
Elliott  makes  no  mention  of  it;  neither  does  Bachman  in 
his  Catalogue.  The  power  this  remarkable  species  pos- 
sesses of  diminishing  the  force  of  the  circulation  is  well 
known.  It  sometimes  proves  violently  emetic  and  purga- 
tive.    See  authors. 

Gratiola  officinalis,  j     Hedge  hyssop.    Kafr- 

"        Virginiea,  of  Mx.  Ell.  Sk.  J  ural.    Abundant  along 

the  margins  of  ditches;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  April. 

Bull.  Plantes  Ven  de  France,  118.     It  is  purgative  and 

emetic;    like   the   arum,    however,    it   loses    much   of   its 

virtue  when  dried;  a  small  quantity  of  the  fresh  root  will 

30 


466 

purge  excessively  (des  superpurgations  extremement  dan- 
gereuses).  It  was  used,  says  Lieutaud,  as  a  hydragogue 
cathartic,  sixty  grains  of  the  dried  root  being  given  in 
dropsy  and  intermittent  fever.  Thornton's  Fam.  Herbal, 
23.  It  is  also  sdfd  to  be  powerfully  anthelmintic,  and  was 
highly  spoken  of  by  the  celebrated  Boerhaave,  by  Hoff- 
mann, and  Dureau.  '; Relieves  dropsy  in  the  chest."  Lind. 
K"at.  Syst.  291.  According  to  Vauquelin,  the  purgative 
property  depends  upon  a  peculiar  substance  analogous  to 
resin,  but  differing  from  it  in  being  soluble  in  hot  water. 

Graiiola  awed,  Muhl.     Vicinity  of  Charleston. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  519.  It  is  said  to  be  fully  as  power- 
ful as  the  above,  as  a  substitute  for  which  it  is  employed; 
attention  is  called  to  it. 

jDaiysioma  pubeseens,  Benth.   •      \      Abundant  in  rich,  dry 

Gerardia  Flam,  L.  and  Ell.  Sk.  J  woods. 

This  plant,  it  is  said,  will  prevent  the  attacks  of  yellow 
and  other  flies  upon  horses;  probably  owing  to  its  great 
viscidity.  See  '•'•Juglans."  It  is  pubescent  and  highly  vis- 
cous. It  has  very  little  taste,  unless  chewed  for  some  time. 
Upon  a  subsequent  examination  (1862)  of  the  G.  Flava,  I 
find  that  each  hair  with  which  the  plant  is  covered  secretes 
from  a  gland  at  its  summit  a  tenacious,  gummy  substance, 
to  which  insects  may  adhere.  Under  the  microscope  it  is 
an  interesting  object.  The  leaves  of  the  English  elder 
(Sambucus  nigra')  "kill  several  species  of  noxious  insects, 
offend  and  banish  moles,  and  are  greedily  eaten  by  sheep." 
Our  Lysima.chias  should  be  examined,  as  the  leaves  and 
flowers  of  L.  Nummularia,  steeped  in  oil,  have  the  power  of 
destroying  insects  and  worms  which  infest  granaries. 

Veronica  officinalis.  Speedwell.  Grows  in  South  Caro- 
lina, according  to  Pursh.     Fl.  May. 

Linn.  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  1.  This  is  tonic  and  pectoral; 
used  in  asthmas  and  coughs,  four  spoonfuls  of  the  ex- 
pressed juice  being  given  in  the  form  of  tea.     Indig.  Bot. 


467 

18.  The  infusion  of  the  leaves  is  employed  on  the  west 
coast  of  Africa  as  a  drink  in  gravelly  complaints.  Drs. 
Frank  and  Scopoli  wrote  monographs  on  it;  the  latter 
affirms  that  he  cured  a  very  violent  case,  where  suffocation 
arose  from  catarrhal  affection,  by  introducing  through  the 
mouth,  by  a  funnel,  the  vapor  of  a  decoction  of  Veronica, 
mixed  with  vinegar.  It  contains  tannin.  Mer.  and  de  L. 
Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  875;  Flore  Med.  vi,  845.  It  is  al- 
luded to  in  the  U.  S.  Disp.  as  a  diaphoretic,  diuretic,  and 
expectorant,  which  had  passed  out  of  use.  Griffith  refers 
to  it  as  a  mild  astringent.  Many  of  these  plants  only  re- 
quire examination  to  regain  the  confidence  once  placed  in 
them;  all  being  liable  to  the  fluctuations  which  have  char- 
acterized some  that  are  now  considered  our  most  valuable 
agents. 

Veronica  peregrina,  Mx.  ISTeckweed.  Vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton; l"Tewbern. 

Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  517.  In  some  portions  of  the  United 
States  it  is  supposed,  to  be  very  efficacious ;  and  is  used 
internally,  and  externally  as  a  wash  in  scrofulous  tumors 
on  the  neck. 

Veronica  Virginica,  L.  1      Virginian  veronica.     Grows  in 

Leptandra,  Nutt.  J  the  mountain  valleys.      Fl.   Au- 

gust. 

U.  S.  Disp.  772;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi, 
816.  •  The  root  is  bitter  and  nauseous,  yielding  its  active 
properties  to  boiling  water.  In  the  recent  state  it  is  said 
to  act  violently,  sometimes  as  a  cathartic,  and  sometimes  as 
an  emetic. 

Under  the  name  blackroot,  Gulver's  root,  and  the  proba- 
bly erroneous  botanical  name  [Leptandra  alba),  the  author 
of  a  work  professing  to  describe  the  Indian  mode  of  treat- 
ing diseases,  entitled  the  "Cherokee  Physician,"  recom- 
mends the  plant  as  aue  efficient  purge:  "operating  with 
mildness  and  certainty;"  peculiarly  adapted  to  typhoid  and 
bilious  fevers.     Dose,  a  large  teaspoonful  of  the  root  in  a 


468 

gill  of  boiling  water,  repeated  in  three  hours.  It  is  said  to 
be  also  diaphoretic.  The  root  may  be  given  in  any  shape, 
and  is  thought  to  have  a  slow,  alterative  action.  An 
extract  is  also  used  in  making  cathartic  pills  by  concen- 
trating the  decoction,  and  using  starch  or  liquorice  root 
powder;  or  a  syrup  is  made  by  adding  molasses  or  sugar. 
It  is  laxative  in  tablespoonful  doses.  A  principle  called 
leptandrine,  from  the  Leptandra,  is  much  used  in  the  West- 
ern states.  An  emetic  decoction  is  made  by  the  vegetable 
practitioners  with  the  Leptandra  root:  half  a  pound  Amer- 
ican ipecacuanha,  or  the  Indian  physic  one  pound,  put 
into  a  gallon  of  water  and  boiled  down  to  a  pint,  of  which 
the  dose  is  an  ounce  every  twenty  minutes  till  vomiting  is 
induced;  or  two  teaspoonfuls  of  the  powder  may  be  given 
in  an  ounce  of  boiling  water,  to  be  repeated. 

Veronica  ariagaUis,  Mich.  Brook  pimpernel;  long-leaved 
brook-lime.  Grows  in  South  Carolina,  according  to  Pursh. 
Nat.     Fl.  July. 

Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  ii,  130.  The  infusion  is  diuretic, 
antiscorbutic,  and  vulnerary. 

Solanace^e.     ( The  Nightshade  Tribe.) 

Leaves  are  narcotic  and  exciting — tubers  generally  whole- 
some. 

Capsicum  annuum.  Pepper.  Cultivated  in  South  Caro- 
lina. • 

Its  properties  are  well  known.  It  may  be  used  as  an 
external  irritant  in  place  of  mustard. 

Solanum  nigrum,  L.  Deadly  nightshade.  Grows  in  rich 
soils;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Charleston  district;  vicinity 
of  Charleston;  ]S"ewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Trous.  et  Pid.  Mat.  Med.  i,  206;  IT.  S.  Disp.  304;  Eberle, 
Mat.  Med.  ii,  89;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  343;  Poyle,  Mat. 
Med.  495;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  326;  Le.  Mat. 
Med.  ii,  272:  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  417; 


469 

Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  iii,  422  and  541 ;  Eouv.  Journal  de 
Med.  x,  67;  Alibert,  Nouv.  Elems.  de  Therap.  i,  417.  The 
berries  are  an  active  narcotic  poison ;  one  grain  of  these,  in 
augmented  doses,  is  used  as  a  remedy  for  increased  flow  of 
urine.  It  is  indicated  in  diseases  affecting  the  bladder,  re- 
bellions ulcers,  etc.  Milne,  Ind.  Bot.  315;  Bull.  Plantes 
Ven.  de  France,  155;  Bern.  £lem.  de  Bot.  ii,  139.  When 
swallowed,  headache,  violent  distortion  of  limbs,  and  delir- 
ium supervene.  Rucke  mentions  a  case  of  a  family  having 
eaten  the  leaves,  and  being  attacked  with  swelling  of  the 
face,  accompanied  with  burning  heat,  followed  by  gangrene. 
Forskall,  in  his  Flora  JEgypt.  Arabica,  says  that  an  appli- 
cation of  the  bruised  leaves  acts  as  a  specific  in  the  disease 
termed  by  the  Arabs  bulla,  and,  applied  with  hog's  lard, 
cures  whitlows.  Cgesalpinus  states  that  the  juice,  or  a  de- 
coction, proved  useful  in  inflammation  of  the  stomach.  Gat- 
aker,  in  his  "Observations  on  the  Use  of  the  Solanum," 
commenced  by  giving  a  grain,  which  acted  gently  as  an 
evacuant  by  sweat,  urine,  and  stool;  if  the  dose  was  too 
large,  it  produced  vomiting,  profuse  perspiration,  or  too 
copious  a  discharge  by  the  kidneys,  or  diarrhoea,  and  some- 
times dimness  of  sight,  vertigo,  etc.  He  used  it  frequently 
in  nervous  affections,  obscure  pains,  and  dropsy.  Stearns' 
Am.  Herb.;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  The  leaves, 
beat  up  into  a  poultice,  are  applied  to  painful  parts,  hemor- 
rhoids, etc.,  and  as  a  cataplasm  in  spasmodic  retention  of 
urine,  and  in  catarrh  of  the  bladder,  no  doubt  producing 
beneficial  results  by  its  narcotic  properties.  Combined  with 
bread,  or  bruised  and  applied  alone,  it  eases  headache  and 
pain  in  the  ears,  helps  inflammation  of  a  venereal  kind,  pains 
from  cancerous  tumors,  and  is  applied  with  advantage  in 
herpetic,  syphilitic,  and  scorbutic  eruptions.  Given  inter- 
nally, one  half-grain  infused  in  one  ounce  of  boiling  water 
may  be  used.  See,  also,  Linnaeus,  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  34 ;  Flore 
Med.  v,  239.  It  was  mentioned  by  Bioscorides,  iv,  56.  By 
the  analysis  of  Besfosses,  the  berries  furnish  an  alkaloid 
called  solanine,  possessed  of  marked  properties.  jNouv. 
Journal  de  Med.  x,  67;  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  iii.  541, 


470 

Dunal  says  it  induces  dilatation  of  the  pupil  by  friction,  as 
completely  as  it  is  accomplished  by  belladonna.  Auc. 
Journal  de  Med.  vi,  150;  Hist.  Med.  des  Solane,  by  Dunal. 
It  has  been  doubted  whether  it  produces  any  impression 
upon  epileptic  patients.  Botanique  Med.  292.  The  fumes 
arising  from  the  burning  of  the  fresh  fruit  are  valuable  in 
curing  toothache.  Gazette  of  Health,  May,  1824.  The 
juice  furnishes  a  reactive  agent,  which  indicates  at  the  same 
time  acids  and  alkalies,  according  to  S.  Boullav,  Bull,  des 
Pharm.  ii,  576;  and  in  the  Observs.  on  different  English 
species  by  Bromsfield.  See  also  Desfosses,  Chem.  Anal,  of 
the  narcotic  principle,  followed  by  some  cases  illustrating 
the  action  of  that  principle;  'Revue  Med.  iv.  463.  Griffith, 
Med.  Bot.  482,  says  that  it  appears  to  possess  the  same  prop- 
erties as  the  S.  dulcamara,  but  in  a  greater  degree ;  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  solanina  exists  in  it  in  larger  proportion. 
Orfila  found  the  extract  equal  in  power  and  energy  to  that 
of  lactucarium.  Toxicol.  Gen.  ii,  190.  It  may  be  employed 
in  the  same  description  of  cases  as  the  bittersweet.  Eberle 
thinks  it  is  by  far  too  much  neglected. 

Solarium.  Caroline?! se,  Michaux.  Horse-nettle.  Diffused  ; 
collected  in  St.  John's,  in  pine  barrens;  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton ;  Xewbern.     Fl.  August. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  410.  Valentine  em- 
ployed it  in  tetanus  (non  traumatique).  The  juice  of  five 
or  six  berries  was  used,  augmenting  the  dose  from  day  to 
day.  See  "A  notice  of  the  different  methods  of  treating 
tetanus  in  America,  with  observations  on  the  good  effects 
of  the  S.  Carolinen.sc"  (in  French).  Journal  Gen.  de  Med. 
xl,  13.  They  did  not  have  it  in  sufficient  quantities  to  re- 
peat the  experiment;  with  us  it  is  abundant.  It  possesses 
some  reputation  among  the  negroes  in  this  state  as  an 
aphrodisiac-. 

Solanum  mammosum,  Pursh.     Vicinity  of  Charleston. 
Lind.  ISTat.  Syst.  295.     The  decoction  of  the  root  is  bitter, 
and  is  esteemed  a  valuable  diuretic.     Ainslie,  M.  Med.  291 : 


471 

Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  483.  It  bears  a  poisonous  fruit,  which 
is  said  to  contain  malate  of  solanina.  Its  extract,  in  small 
doses,  has  been  given  in  cardialgia,  lepra,  etc.  Flore  Med. 
Antill.  iii,  159. 

Solamcm  Virginianum,  Pursh.  Grows  in  sandy  soils;  A'i- 
cinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Stearns'  Am.  Herbal,  154.  The  leaves  are  anodyne;  the 
juice  of  the  whole  plant  is  sharp  and  corrosive,  and  inspis- 
sated in  the  sun  to  the  consistence  of  an  ointment,  is  applied 
to  cancers  and  ulcers.  "The  plant  is  good  in  rheumatic 
affections,  and  in  those  proceeding  from  venereal  taint — 
surpassing  opium."  It  has  also  been  found  serviceable  in 
itch  and  herpes.  From  this  statement,  it  appears  to  resem- 
ble in  its  properties  the  8.  nigrum. 

Solanum  tuberosum.  Cult.  Irish  potato.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  originally  carried  to  Europe  from  Virginia.  Bald- 
win found  it  growing  wild  in  Peru. 

Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  ii,  142.  The  juice  of  the  leaves  is 
said  to  be  an  excellent  diuretic.  "Nous  avons  remarque 
que  les  enfans  de  nos  provinces,  nourris  avec  ces  racines, 
ont  le  ventre  gros,  dur,  et  sont  sujets  a  des  glandes  tume- 
fiees!"  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  295,  where  it  is  mentioned 
that  the  root,  in  a  state  of  putrefaction,  is  affirmed  to  give 
out  a  light  sufficient  to  read  by.  Macculloch  said  potash 
could  not  be  obtained  from  the  stalks,  though  it  exists 
largely  in  the  plant.  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  488.  An  extract 
of  the  leaves  is  highly  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Dyer  in  chronic 
rheumatism,  and  in  painful  affections  of  the  stomach  and 
bowels;  he  thinks  it  ranks  between  conium  and  belladonna. 
Pharm.  Journal,  i,  590. 

The  Irish  as  well  as  the  sweet  potato,  rice,  etc.,  contain 
starch  in  large  amount,  and  it  is  easily  obtained.  See  "  Ma- 
ranta,"  arrow-root,  in  this  volume. 

The  following  is  a  method  of  clemming  silks  with  potatoes : 
three  Irish  potatoes  are  pared  into  thin  slices,  and  well 
washed  ;  pour  on  them  a  half-pint  of  boiling  water,  ana* 


472 

add  to  it  an  equal  quantity  of  alcohol;  sponge  the  silk  on 
the  right  side,  and  when  half-dry  iron  it  on  the  wrong 
side.  The  most  delicate  colored  silks  may  be  cleansed  by 
this  process,  which  is  equally  applicable  to  cloth,  velvet,  or 
crape. 

Solatium  lycopersicum.     Ex.     Cult.     Tomato. 

The  fruit  of  this  plant  is  well  known  as  an  article  of 
food;  it  is  slightly  acid,  and  has  a  constipating  effect, 
which  renders  it  so  appropriate  as  an  article  of  food  during 
the  warm  months  of  summer.  The  leaves  are  said  to  pro- 
duce vomiting,  from  an  alkaline  principle  which  exists  in 
them;  they  also  contain  calcareous  sulphates,  extractive, 
and  a  coloring  matter,  combined  with  a  volatile  oil.  See 
analysis  in  Journal  de  Pharm.  xviii,  106;  Griffith's  Med. 
Bot.  483.  The  alkaloid  principle  contained  in  the  leaves  is 
analogous  to,  if  not  identical  with  solanina.  A  peculiar  oil 
and  an  annualized  extractive  are  also  ascribed  to  it'  by 
other  observers.  Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  iv,  224.  The 
fruit  contains  a  peculiar  acid,  and  a  brown,  tarry,  odorous, 
resinous  matter,  with  some  indications  of  the  presence  of 
an  alkaloid.     It  is  said  to  act  on  the  biliary  functions. 

Tomatoes  may  be  preserved  for  winter  use  in  a  portable 
form  suitable  for  distribution  to  soldiers  in  camp  as  well 
as  for  families  in  the  following  manner:  mash  the  fruit, 
strain  the  juice  through  a  coarse  towel,  season  with  salt, 
boil  in  a  pewter  or  tin  vessel  until  one-third  is  evaporated; 
then  spread  on  a  flat  surface  and  expose  to  the  sun  till  it 
looks  like  a  paste.  When  ready  to  store  away  put  writing 
paper  over  the  paste,  wet  in  vinegar.  This  is  a  plan  used 
by  the  ladies  in  South  Carolina.  The  watery  parts  are  all 
evaporated,  and  a  small  portion  is  enough  to  season  soup, 
broths,  etc.  The  economical  value  of  the  plant  is  well 
known.  The  seeds  are  irritant  to  the  mucous  coat  of  the 
digestive  organs,  but  the  laxative  effect  is  corrected  by  the 
juice,  which  darkens  the,  excreta  as  if  a  salt  of  iron  had 
been  taken.  The  use  of  the  fruit  tends  to  promote  consti- 
pation and  prevent  diarrhcaa. 


473 

Phy satis  pubescens.  Grows  in  sandy  soils;  collected  in 
St.  John's.     Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  v,  296 ;  Journal  de  Chim. 
Med.  vi;  210.  It  is  supposed  that  the  species  bearing  this 
name  in  Europe  and  America  are  different.  The  former  is 
interesting. 

Phy  salts  viscosa,  L.  ^  Ground -cherry.  Diffused; 
"  obscura,  Mich.  V grows  along  roads;  collected  in 
"  pubescens,  W.  )  St.  John's,  Berkley;  vicinity  of 
Charleston.     Fl.  Aug. 

This  is  said  by  Clayton  to  be  actively  diuretic. 

Atropa  physaloides.  Grows  around  buildings;  in  rich 
soils.     Fl.  Aug. 

This  plant  would  probably  be  found  upon  examination 
to  be  possessed  of  some  medicinal  qualities. 

Nicotiana  tabacum,  W.     Tobacco.     Introduced. 

This  plant  grows  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  .  In 
the  lower  portions  of  the  latter  state  it  is  planted  as  an  arti- 
cle of  trade.     Its  properties  are  well  known.     See  authors. 

Tobacco  should  be  more  extensively  cultivated  for  home 
use,  particularly  for  the  comfort  of  our  negroes  in  Carolina, 
Georgia,  and  Alabama.  I  have  seen  it  springing  up,  and 
bearing  abundantly  near  Stateburg,  South  Carolina;  it 
was  flourishing  without  culture.  Consult  Johnson's  Chem- 
istry of  Common  Life,  vol.  ii,  p.  32,  for  an  interesting 
account  of  tobacco;  the  papers  in  the  Lancet  during  the. 
controversy  on  the  subject  of  the  use  of  tobacco;  also  the 
British  and  Foreign  Med.  Chirug.  Review.  In  the  manu- 
facture of  Killickinick  tobacco  in  Virginia  they  add  sumach 
leaves,  which  lessens  the  strength.  See  a  paper  on  the 
"Cultivation  of  Cuba  Tobacco,"  by  J.  M.  Hernandez,  of 
St.  Augustine,  Florida,  in  Patent  Office  Reports,  1854,  p. 
212;  the  best  mode  of  preparing  it  is  also  treated  of.  The 
ashes  of  tobacco  contain  a  large  proportion  of  potash. 
The  residuum  of  ash  after  burning  is  very  great,  as  any 


474 

one  can  observe  by  noticing  what  remains  when  a  cig;ar  is 
consumed.  The  plant  also  yields  ammoniacal  salts.  A  full 
account  of  the  amount  of  tobacco  produced  in  the  several 
states,  and  of  the  culture  and  mode  of  preparation  may  be 
found  in  the  Farmer's  Encyc.  from  the  Farm  Register. 

Datura  stramonium.  Linn.  Jamestown  weed;  thorn- 
apple;  stramonium.  Diffused;  grows  abundantly  in  upper 
and  lower  districts;   Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Trous.  et  Pid.  Traite  de  Therap.  et  de  M.  Med.  i,  230 ; 
Orfila,  Traite  de  Toxicol.  Journ.  Univ.  des  Sci.  Med.  47, 
227 ;  Ell.  Bot.  276 ;  Drayton's  View,  63 ;  Edin.  Med.  and 
Surg.  Journal  vii  and  viii,  1812;  Trans.  Med.  Chirurg.  Soc. 
Edin.  i,  285;  Archives  Generates  de  Med.  iv,  373;  Med. 
Chirurg.  Trans.  Loud,  vii,  ann.  1806 ;  Bell's  Pract,  Diet.  434; 
Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  80;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  438;  Pe. 
Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  308;.  Frost's  Elems.  Mat  Med. 
460;  IT.  S.  Disp.  688;  Watson's  Pract.  Physic,  197;  De 
Cand.  Phys.  Veg.  i,  354;  Bayle,  Bill.  Therap.  ii;  Big.  Am. 
Med.  Bot.  i,  17;  "Wooclv.  Med.  Bot.  74,  197;  Trait6  de 
Chimie,  81,  319;  Paris's  Pharm.;  Bart,  Essay  Form.  Mat. 
Med.  48;  New  England  Med.  and  Surg.  Journ.  iv,  226; 
Med.  Chirurg.  Trans,  vii,  2;  Ball,  and  Gar.  Mat.  Med. 
346;  CuMen,  Mat  Med.  ii,  281;  Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  i,  122; 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  593;  Bull,  des  Sci. 
Med.  de  Ferns,  xi,  197;  Lindeustolpe,  de  Venenis,  531,  op. 
tit.;  Sauvage,  Xosol.  ii,  430;  Greding,  in  Ludwig's  Adver- 
saria, i,  345;  Murray's  Apparat.  Med.  i,  670;  Fowler,  in 
Med.  Comment,  v,  161 ;  Adhelius,  cit,  in  Med.  Com.  Phil. 
Trans.  Abridg.  vi,  53;  Rush,  in  Phil.  Trans,  i,  384;  SchoBpf, 
Mat.  Med.  25;  Wedinburg,  Med.  Comment,  iii,  18;  Bev- 
erly's Hist.  Virginia,  121;  Med.  and  Phys.  Journal,  xxv, 
xxvi;  Cooper,  in  Caldwell's  Thesis,  vol.  i;  Shec.  Flora 
Carol.  497;  Mew  York.  Med.  Repos.  ii,  27;  Lind.  Nat, 
Syst.  Bot.  294. 

A  well-known  narcotic  and  antispasmodic,  employed  in 
mania,  epilepsy,  chorea,  tetanus,  and  palsy. 

Bergius  frequently  saw  maniacs  restored  to  perfect  sane- 


475 

ness  of  mind,  which  they  never  afterward  lost,  by  the 
continued  use  of  the  extract  of  our  common  stramonium; 
and  by  the  same  means  he  effectually  cured  the  delirium 
so  often  attendant  upon  childbirth,  where  every  other 
remedy  had  proved  abortive.  Bull,  des  Plantes  Ven.  et 
Suspect,  de  France,  i,  38;  Dem.  IClem.  de  Bot.  ii,  75; 
Milne,  Ind.  Bot.  285.  Adhelius  states  that  of  fourteen 
patients  who  suffered  under  epilepsy  and  nervous  affec- 
tions in  a  hospital  at  Stockholm,  eight  were  completely 
cured,  five  relieved,  and  only  one  received  no  benefit. 
Thornton's  Fam.  Herb.  188;  Woodv.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  339; 
Storck,  i,  c.  5 ;  Karnes  in  Comm.  Nov.  1733,  p.  251 ;  Lob- 
sten,  Epistle  ad  Gurren,  Plantes  Yen.  Alsat.  Eph.  Nat. 
Cur.  cent,  ix,  obs.  94;  Huckel  in  Comm.  Nov.  1744,  14; 
Barrex,  Essai  sur  l'Hist.  Nat.  de  la  France,  48 ;  Buchner, 
Misc.  Phys.  Mat.  122.  The  seeds  are  soporific,  and  are 
said  to  induce  delirium  and  a  partial  forgetfulness,  and  to 
be  used  by  women  in  the  East  for  purposes  herein  stated, 
viz:  uAb  India  alia  inebriantia  et  aromatica  in  electuarium  recip- 
itur  semen,  ad  grata  phantasmata  cienda,  et,  ui  quidem  vohmt, 
quo  ad  cetera  patranda,  tanto  audaciores  evadant."  Ksempher, 
Exotic,  650.  "  Somnumfacit  adeo  profundum  ut  impune  pudi- 
citia  puellce  violari  possit,  quce  hoc  toxicum,  sumserit."  Haller,  t. 
c.  "  A  mulleribus  iiifidis  Turcis  gynecceis  inclusis,  ad  consopticn- 
dos  et  dementandos  maritos,  quo  aliorum  mqjis  desideratorum 
ajnplexibus  satientur,  usurpari,  et  Hamburgi  a  vetula  sic  honest- 
am  feminam,  quo  se  inscm  mazchum  admitteret,  intoxicatam  nar- 
ratm\"  See  Lindenstolpe,  de  Venenis,  531  ;  Mer.  and  de 
L.  Supplem.  to  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  238,  1846.  Dr.  Begbie 
has  given  the  extract  with  great  success,  in  doses  of  one- 
quarter  to  one-half  grain  every  four  hours,  in  many  cases 
of  neuralgia.  Iievue  Med.  iii,  57,  and  iv,  414.  Dr.  Fott 
relates  the  case  of  a  young  lady  who  was  cured  in  six 
weeks  of  tic  douloureux  bv  usine'  eiffht  to  fifteen  drachms 
of  the  tincture.  Gazette  de  Sante,  Janvier,  1830,  p.  8 ; 
Emploi  du  Stramonium  dans  1'Asthme  Nerveux,  Paris, 
1835.  Series  of  observations  in  relation  to  the  use  of  the 
dried  leaves  as  a  purgative  in  the  treatment  of  asthma  (in 


476 

French).  Bull,  de  Therap.  vi,  12,  336.  Ducros'  Observa- 
tions on  the  efficacy  of  the  leaves  of  Dat.  stramonium  in  a 
case  of  angina  pectoris,  from  the  Bull,  de  Therap.  vii,  93. 
Serres'  Observations  on  the  employment  of  extract  of  Stra- 
monium in  facial  JSTeuralgia.  Bull,  de  Therap.  xiv,  51.  F. 
Moreau,  Mem.  on  treatment  of  Hallucination  by  Stramo- 
nium, in  Gazette  Medicale,  373,  1841;  see,  also,  Biblio- 
theque  de  Therap.  by  M.  Bayle,  ii,  249.  Lindley,  in  his 
^Natural  S}7stem,  says  it  is  more  particularly  applicable  in 
"mania  without  fever."  The  remedies  for  poisoning  by 
this  plant  are  a  speedy  emetic,  the  free  use  of  vegetable 
acids,  strong  coffee,  etc.  Dr.  Fisher,  President  of  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  found  stramonium  useful, 
remarks  Bigelow,  in  those  cases  of  epilepsy  which  are 
diurnal  or  have  regular  returns.  It  was  unsuccessful  in 
those  which  did  not  observe  any  regular  period.  In  tic 
douloureux  of  long  standing  it  is  advised  that  it  be  taken 
in  large  doses,  and  that  the  system  be  kept  under  its 
influence.  The  leaf,  prepared  and  smoked  as  tobacco,  has 
been  found  to  act  as  a  palliative  in  asthma;  the  root  being 
less  useful  in  this  respect.  From  the  observations  of  Br. 
Marcet,  Phys.  Guy's  Hosp.,  taken  internally  it  had  proved 
very  effectual  in  removing  acute  pains,  as  in  those  arising 
from  chronic  diseases,  acute  uterine  affections,  for  instance. 
Decided  benefit  was  obtained  from  it  in  four  cases  of 
sciatica,  and  in  two  others  complicated  with  syphilitic 
pains.  Eberle  used  it  in  this  disease  with  entire  success; 
and  he  states  that  his  trials  with  it  in  rheumatism  were 
exceedingly  flattering.  Dr.  Chapman  administered  it  in 
dysmenorrhoea.  The  employment  of  the  ointment  in 
allaying  pain  was  known  as  far  back  as  the  time  of 
Gerarde,  1597.  It  is  efficacious  in  changing  the  condition 
and  promoting  cicatrization  ;  acetate  of  lead  being  employ- 
ed with  the  ointment  as  an  application  to  painful  and 
irritable  ulcers  and  hemorrhoidal  tumors.  Preparations  of 
stramonium  applied  to  the  eye,  it  is  well  known,  diminish 
sensibility  and  dilate  the  pupil.  I  have  seen  the  extract 
employed  to  a  large  extent  in  the  New  York  Eye  Infirm- 


•477    ' 

ary,  in  which  institution  it  has  entirely  taken  the  place  of 
belladonna  as  an  application  for  dilating  the  pupil.  Its 
virtues  reside  in  an  extractive  principle,  which  is  dissolved 
by  water.  The  powder  should  be  kept  in  closely  stopped 
bottles ;  the  juice  may  be  pressed  out  of  the  leaves  with  a 
bag.  The  ointment  ma}'  be  made  with  a  pound  of  the 
fresh  leaves  simmered  in  three  of  lard  until  the  leaves 
become  crisp,  then  strained,  and  cooled  gradually.  Grif- 
fith, Med.  Bot.  461.  Its  peculiar  properties  depend  upon 
a  principle  called  daturia,  very  analogous  to  hyoscyamia, 
slowly  dilating  the  pupil  and  exercising  a  poisonous  influ- 
ence. Mr.  Morries,  in  Ed.  Med.  and  Surg.  Journal,  xxxix, 
379,  has  described  an  empyreumatic  oil  obtained  from  it, 
closely  allied  to  that  from  the  foxglove.  Stramonium  is 
stated  to  be  an  acro-narcotic,  very  similar  to(  belladonna, 
but  acting  in  a  more  marked  manner  upon  the  secretory 
functions.  Chapman  says  it  is  considered  useful  rather  in 
allaying  the  excessive  mobility  of  the  system  than  in  tend- 
ing to  the  absolute  cure  of  the  complaint;  referring  to  its 
effects  in  mania  and  epilepsy.  Dr.  Marcet  regards  its 
operation  on  the  bowels  as  relaxing  rather  than  astringent. 
The  ointment  has  been  recommended  in  nymphomania,  to 
lessen  venereal  excitement.  The  dose  of  the  powdered 
leaves  is  one  grain,  of  the  seeds  half  a  grain ;  of  the 
extract  of  the  seeds  one-quarter  of  a  grain,  from  the 
leaves  one  grain  ;  of  the  tincture  ten  drops,  to  be  increased 
if  necessary.  The  tincture  is  made  with  four  ounces  of  the 
bruised  seed  to  two  pints  of  diluted  alcohol — macerate  for 
fourteen  da}s.  In  dilating  the  pupil  with  the  extract,  pre- 
liminary to  an  examination  of  a  diseased  eye  by  the  catop- 
tric test,  I  have  repeatedly  found  it  to  allay  supra-orbital 
pains.  To  relieve  the  latter,  so  often  a  distressing  concomi- 
tant, we  frequently  prescribe  it,  with  equal  parts  of 
mercurial  ointment  and  thirty  grains  of  mur.  morphise,  as 
a  local  application.  The  plant  while  young  and  tender  is 
readily  collected  and  eaten  as  a  salad  by  soldiers  in  camp. 

Datura  tatula,  L.     Purple  thorn-apple.      Grows  around 
Charleston.     El.  July  and  September. 


478 

IT.  S.  Disp.  690.  "It  possesses  very  much  the  same 
properties  as  the  D.  stramonium."  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de 
M.  Med.  599.  The  decoction  of  the  leaves  is  employed  in 
leprosy.    Diet,  des  Drogues,  ii,  56.    Said  to  be  aphrodisiac. 

GENTiAtfACEiE.     (The  Gentian  Tribe.) 
Characterized  by  intense  bitterness. 

Gentiana  JElliottii,  Chap.  Fl.  \  Sampson's  snakeroot. 
"  Gatesbm,  Ell.  J  Damp    soils   along   rivu- 

lets ;  collected  in  St.  John's  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  grows 
in  Georgia  also  ;  l^ewbern.     Fl.  September. 

Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  138 ;  U.  S.  Disp.  348  ;  Bell's 
Pract.  Diet.  218;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii, 
361 ;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  304 ;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med. 
359;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  461.  An  excellent  bitter  tonic, 
"little  inferior  to  the  European  gentian,"  introduced  to 
notice  by  Dr.  McBride,  of  St.  John's,  Berkley,  South 
Carolina.  It  is  frequently  prescribed  with  advantage  in 
pneumonia  attended  with  typhoid  symptoms,  and  in  dys- 
pepsia. The  virtues  reside  in  a  bitter  extractive  principle, 
soluble  in  water  and  alcohol.  It  may  be  advantageously 
combined  with  chalybeates.  It  is  employed  to  some  extent 
in  popular  practice  in  this  state,  and  is  found  of  much 
service  as  a  substitute  for  bitters.  The  decoction  is  the 
form  prescribed  in  pneumonia.  The  saturated  spirituous 
tincture  is  advised  in  dyspepsia  and  in  debility  of  stomach, 
in  doses  of  one-quarter  to  one-half  of  a  fluidounce.  The 
root  is  officinal ;  dose  of  the  powder  from  fifteen  to  thirty 
grains.  The  compound  infusion  is  made  with  one-half 
ounce  of  the  root,  orange  peel  and  coriander  each  one 
drachm,  cold  water  twelve  fluidounces,  macerate  for  twelve 
hours;  dose,  one  fluidounce.  Dose  of  extract,  ten  to  thirty 
grains.  Given  before  meals  it  invigorates  the  stomach, 
increases  the  appetite,  and  prevents  acidification  of  the 
food. 

For  extraction  of  "bitter  principle"  in  plants,  see  Rural 
Cyc.  435,  vol.  i.    It  is  believed  by  many  that  the  use  of  bit- 


479 

ters  in  spring  and  autumn  will  counteract  the  action  of 
malaria."  They  certainly  prevent  debility,  and  increase  the 
digestive  and  nutritive  powers,  and  thus  indirectly  act  as 
prophylactics,  even  when  they  possess  no  positive  virtue 
as  antiperiodic  agents.  The  various  species  of  gentian, 
thorough  wort,  sabbatia,  dogwood,  poplar  bark,  willow,  pip- 
sissewa,  or  winter-green,  wild  cherry  bark,  sarracenia,  etc., 
supply  useful  bitters.  They  may  be  collected  and  prepared 
by  any  one.  Cold  water  extracts  bitters,  and  alcohol  may 
also  be  added  to  preserve  the  infusion. 

Gentiana  purpurea,  rubra,  and  lutea  are  used  in  England  as 
substitutes  for  hops.  No  doubt  our  species  would  serve  the 
same  purpose;  at  any  rate,  they  will  give  a  bitter  tonic 
property  when  used  in  the  manufacture  of  ale,  beer,  etc. 

Gentiana  ochroleuca,  W.  Grows  in  damp  soils  ;  collected 
in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  September. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  340.  It  possesses  properties  some- 
what similar  to  the  above. 

Gentiana,  saponaria,  L.  \  .   . 

G.  catesbeei,  Walt.         J      ^ lcimt^  ot  Ctoayiepton, 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  461. 
I 

Gentiana  quinqueflora,  Frl.  This  and  the  G.  sap.  are 
esteemed  fully  equal  to  the  imported  gentian.  In  large 
doses  they  are  said  to  be  laxative ! 

Sabbatia  angular  is,  Pursh.  \      Am.   centaury.      Grows   in 
Chironia,  Linn.  j  low  soils  along  rivulets ;   col- 

lected in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  vicinity  of  Charleston. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  385;  Chap.  Therap.  and  Mat. 
Med.  438;  ii,  417;  U.  S.  Disp.  611;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and 
Therap.  ii,  344;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  475;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med. 
i,  307.  See  Chironia,  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  iii,  147  ;  Bart. 
M.  Bot.  1255 ;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat,  Med.  1176  ;  Barton's 
Collec.  i,  15;  Lincl.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  297;  Griffith's  Med. 
Bot.  459  ;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  529.     "  This  is  a  pure 


480 

bitter,  with  tonic  and  stomachic  properties."  Bigelow  does 
not  hesitate  to  attest  its  utility;  and  Eberle  considers  it  one 
of  the  most  valuable  of  our  indigenous  remedies  of  this 
class ;  employed  in  domestic  practice  in  intermittent  fever, 
but  principally  to  invigorate  the  stomach  and  alimentary 
canal.  Barton  says  it  was  given  with  success  in  certain 
stages  of  the  yellow  fever.  The  cold  infusion  of  one  ounce 
of  the  herb  to  one  pint  of  boiling  water,  taken  in  doses  of 
a  wineglassful  every  two  hours,  may  be  used,  or  thirty 
grains  to  sixty  grains  of  the  powder,  which  also  acts  as  a 
vermifuge.  The  decoction,  extract,  and  tincture  may  be 
used. 

Sabbalia  stellaris,  Ph.  (Prodrom.)  V     Grows  in  damp  soils; 
"       gracilis,  Mich.  Ell.  Sk.     JXewbern;    vicinity   of 
Charleston;  collected  in  St.  John's;  sent  to  me  from  Ab- 
beville by  Mr.  Reed.     It  possesses  properties  similar  to  the 
above. 

Frasera  Carolinensis,  Walt.  ^  Am.  Colombo.  Found  in 
"        Walteri,  Mich.  /Fairfield  and  Abbeville  dis- 

tricts ;  Xewbern. 

Ell.  Bot.  McBride's  Xote,  i,  205;  Drake's  Cincinnati,  86; 
Bart.  Veg.  Mat.  Med.  iii,  107 ;  Raf.  Med.  Fl.  i,  196  ;  Coxe, 
Am.  Disp.  297;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  534;  Mer.  and 
de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  291 ;  Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  463. 
"A  pure,  powerful,  and  excellent  bitter,  destitute  of 
aroma."  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  In  the  recent  state  it  is 
said  to  possess  considerable  emetic  and  cathartic  power; 
the  root  is  employed  as  a  tonic  and  febrifuge,  and  is  sub- 
stituted for  the  officinal  Colombo  with  equal  advantage, 
given  during  the  convalescence  from  fevers.  By  the  anal- 
ysis of  Mr.  Douglas,  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  vi,  157,  it  con- 
tains bitter  extractive,  gum,  tannin,  gallic  acid,  resin,  fatty 
matter,  sugar,  etc.  Griffith,  in  Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm. 
iii,  269.  In  the  recent  state  it  is  employed  as  a  substitute 
for  rhubarb,  in  doses  of  thirty  grains  to  one  drachm  of  the 
infusion  of  one  ounce  of  the  root  to  one  pint  of  boiling 


481 

water,  of  which  a  wineglassful  may  be  taken  three  times  a 
da}r.  It  should  be  collected  in  the  autumn  of  the  second  or 
spring  of  the  third  year.  The  root  before  being  dried  should 
be  cut  in  transverse  slices.  An  infusion  is  made  with  one 
ounce  of  the  bruised  root  to  one  pint  of  boiling  water; 
dose,  one  or  two  iiuidounces.  It  is  also  useful  prescribed 
as  a  tonic.  This  plant  holds  a  deservedly  high  rank 
among  our  native  tonics,  and  I  would  recommend  its 
employment  to  those  residing  in  localities  where  it  may  be 
found.  The  tincture  is  given  as  a  tonic,  and  the  powdered 
plant  applied  externally  to  ulcers  in  the  form  of  a  poultice 
for  its  antiseptic  powers. 

Spigeliace^.     (The  Wormseed  Tribe.) 
Shigella  Marylandiea,  Walter.     Pink-root.     Abundant  in 
the  lower  portions  of  South  Carolina ;  collected  in  St.  John's ; 
vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  May. 

Lining,  Essays  and  Obs.  Phys.  Lit.  South  Carolina,  i,  386 ; 
Garden's  Essay  Phys.  and  Lit.  iii,  145 ;  Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes, 
237;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  377;  Chalmers  on  the  Weather 
and  Diseases  of  South  Carolina,  i,  67;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat. 
Med.  187;  Le.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  377;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  i, 
142;  Home,  Chirm  Exper.  420;  Murray's  App.  Med.  i,  548; 
Royle,  Mat.  Med.  469;  Thompson's  Inaug.  Diss.  Fenella, 
Journal  de  Pharm.  ix,  197 ;  Griffith,  Phil.  Journal  Pharm. 
1833;  Bell's  Pract,  Diet.  433;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat.  Med.  5%; 
Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  344;  U.  S.  Disp.  680;  Ball. 
and  Gar.  Mat.  Med.  334;  Bergii,  Mat.  Med.  i,  96;  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  502;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  128 
and  558;  Bull,  des  Sci.  Med.  de  Ferus,  xi,  301;  Lind.  Nat. 
Syst.  Bot,  299;  Bart.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  80;  Woodv.  Med. 
Bot.  ii,  289.  See  Dr.  Brocklesby's  Obs.  Med.  282;  Grif- 
fith's Med.  Bot.  466.  This  plant  is  a  well-known  indigenous 
anthelmintic,  possessed  of  narcotic  and  cathartic  powers. 
Dr.  Barton  found  it  also  useful  in  the  fevers  of  children  not 
proceeding  from  verminous  irritation,  as  from  those,  for  in- 
stance, consequent  upou  hydrocephalus.  The  root  contains 
a  heavy,  gross,  and  volatile  oil,  a  small  quantity  of  resin,  a 
31 


482 

peculiar  bitter  substance,  spigeline,  albumen,  gallic  acid,  salts, 
etc.  See  Anal.  Journal  de  Pharm.  ix,  197.  According  to 
Feneuille,  spigeline  is  bitter,  nauseant,  and  purgative,  and 
produces  a  sort  of  intoxication  (ivresse).  The  root  is  much 
more  active  in  the  recent  state.  With  senna,  it  forms  the 
well-known  and  efficacious  remedy  called  worm-tea:  com- 
posed of  spig.  half  an  ounce;  senna  two  drachms;  savin 
half  a  drachm,  and  manna  two  drachms — to  be  infused  in 
a  pint  of  water  and  strained,  of  which  one  to  two  ounces 
may  be  given  to  a  child.  This  dose  does  not  excite  narcotic 
symptoms.  Chalmers'  Hist,  of  South  Carolina.  Dr.  Lin- 
ing, of  South  Carolina,  gave  twelve  grains  of  the  root  of 
this  plant  to  an  infant  morning  and  evening;  ten  to  twenty 
grains  may  be  given  to  one  of  seven,  and  one  drachm  to  an 
adult,  repeated  two  or  three  times  a  day;  or  an  ounce  of 
the  root  infused  in  one  pint  of  water,  of  which  a  half  may 
be  taken  by  an  adult,  and  one  or  two  spoonfuls  by  a  child. 
When  a  full  dose  is  given  at  night,  it  is  well  to  follow  it  by 
a  purge  in  the  morning.  Dr.  J.  P.  Thomas  informs  me  that 
his  children  drink  the  pink-root  tea  habitually  as  a  bever- 
age, and  prefer  it  to  the  hyson;  and  in  this  way  it  proves 
prophylactic  against  worms. 

Apocynace^e. 
It  contains  species  with  purgative,  acrid,  and  febrifugal 
properties. 

Forsteronia  diffbrmis,  D.  C.  (Prodrom.)      I  A  vine;  found 

Echites  "  Walter,  and  Ell.  Sk.  /     sparingly  in 

South  Carolina;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  on  Sarra- 
zin  PI.  (Mrs.  I.  S.  Porcher's);  found  also  in  the  vicinity 
of  Charleston. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  51.  With  milk,  it 
is  used  as  a  wash  for  freckles.  The  juice  is  said  to  be  suffi- 
ciently caustic  to  destroy  warts  and  scirrhous  excrescences. 
Any  portion  of  the  plant  will  coagulate  milk. 

The  juice  of  our  species  of  Echites  and  Forstercfuia  (E. 
difformis,  Ell.  and  Walt.)  should  be  examined,  for  from  this 


483 

genus  is  obtained  the  highly  poisonous  Woorari  (from  E. 
subereeta)  growing  in  Jamaica. 

Apocynum  cannabinum,  L.  )      Indian  hemp;    dog's-bane; 

A.  pubesccns,  Ell.  Sk.  /old  Amy-root;    grows  along 

fences  in  wet  soils;  collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of 
Charleston;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Bell's  Pract.  Diet,  61;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  365; 
Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  v,  136;  Am.  Journal  Med.  Sci. 
xii,  55;  Dr.  Griscom,  in  op.  til;  IT.  S.  Disp.  108;  Am.  Med. 
Rev.  iii,  197;  Ball,  and  Gar.  Mat.  Med.  338;  Mer.  and  de 
L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  368.  This  is  a  powerful  emeto-ca- 
thartic,  producing  diaphoresis,  and  expectoration,  inducing 
also  a  tendency  to  sleep,  independent  of  the  exhaustion  con- 
sequent upon  vomiting.  The  evacuations  brought  on  by  it 
are  large,  feculent,  and  watery';  and  they  are  succeeded  by 
perspiration.  Am.  Journal  Med.  Sci.  loc.  tit :  "It  diminishes 
the  frequency  of  the  pulse,  and  induces  drowsiness."  This 
plant  is  one  of  our  most  powerful  hydragogue  cathartics 
and  diuretics,  and  has  frequently  cured  aggravated  cases  of 
ascites.  It  acts  so  decidedly  in  draining  the  system  that 
Dr.  Rush  called  it  the  "vegetable  trocar."  We  have  seen 
it  used  with  advantage  in  dropsy  by  Dr.  V.  Mott  among  his 
clinical  patients;  he  employs  it  in  all  cases  of  tonic  dropsy, 
being  too  active  for  those  of  an  atonic  character,  where  iron 
would  have  been  advisable.  Dr.  Knapp  states,  in  his  Inaug. 
Thesis,  that  fifteen  to  twenty  grains  of  the  powdered  root 
would  induce  vomiting;  he  gave  it  in  intermittent  fever,  in 
pneumonic  affections,  in  dysentery,  and  as  an  alterative  in 
enteritis.  It  acts  as  a  sternutatory,  and  the  fresh  juice  has 
been  employed  as  an  external  application  in  some  cutane- 
ous affections.  By  chemical  analysis,  it  is  shown  to  contain 
tannin,  gallic  acid,  gum-resin,  wax,  fecula,  and  a  bitter  prin- 
ciple, apoc.yne.  Merat  states,  in  the  Supplem.  to  the  Diet, 
de  M.  Med.  52,  1846,  that  the  preparation  called  apocyne 
combines  all  its  valuable  constituents.  Revue  Med.  Oct. 
1833,  and  Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  x,  95  et  567;  see,  also, 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  449.     The  decoction,  made  with  one 


484 

ounce  of  the  root  in  one  pint  of  boiling  water,  is  given  in 
doses  of  a  wineglassful  three  times  a  day.  The  bark  fur- 
nishes a  fibre  resembling  hemp,  of  a  whiter  color,  and  supe- 
rior in  durability;  and  the  decoction  affords  a  permanent 
dye,  brown  or  black,  according  to  the  mordant  used.  It  is 
given  to  some  extent  in  domestic  practice  in  the  lower  por- 
tions of  this  state,  and  is  called  by  the  negroes  "General 
Marion's  weed,"  from  its  having  been  a  favorite  remedial 
agent  in  the  camp  of  the  partisan  leader. 

"This  plant  has  been  proved  by  Prof.  Thouin,  of  Paris, 
to  possess  a  stronger  fibre  than  that  of  hemp;  and  it  is  used 
by  the  American  Indians  for  making  cordage,  fishing  nets, 
and  coarse  cloth.  The  name  alludes  to  the  noxiousness  of 
the  juice  to  dogs."  Rural  Cyc.  See  Urliea,  Linum,  Ascle- 
pias,  for  plants  containing  textile  fibres.  We  have  also  A. 
androscemifolium.  In  St.  John's,  Berkley,  S.  C,  this  plant 
is  known  as  "Amy  root,"  and  is  esteemed  to  possess  great 
virtues  in  arresting  intermittent  fevers — used  as  a  substitute 
for  quinine.  It  is  generally  given  steeped  in  whiskey,  or  a 
decoction  may  be  drunk  as  a  tea.  I  am  told  by  residents 
that  the  plant  is  also  purgative,  and  it  affords  a  singular 
example  of  a  bitter  and  a  purgative  united,  hence  its  appli- 
cability as  a  stomachic  in  constipation,  dyspepsia,  and  de- 
praved conditions  of  the  nutritive  organs.  A  subject  of 
violent  asthma  assures  me  that  the  decoction  gives  her  more 
relief  than  any  other  agent  tried,  possibly  by  promoting 
digestion.     See  next  species. 

Apocynam  androscemifolium,  L.  Dog's-bane.  Grows  in 
damp,  rich  soils;  vicinity  of  Charleston. 

Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  148;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  i,  868;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  85;  Kalm's  Travels,  326; 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  450.  Thirty  grains  of  the  powder  of 
the  recently  dried  root  is  emetic  and  diaphoretic,  causing 
scarcely  any  previous  nausea;  so  that  it  is  suitable  for 
evacuating  the  contents  of  the  stomach  without  producing 
exhaustion  or  relaxation  of  the  muscular  system.  It  oper- 
ates in  this  way  as  effectually  a$  two-thirds  of  the  quantity 


485 

of  ipecacuanha.  The  active  property  is  diminished  by 
keeping.  As  a  diaphoretic,  it  is  best  combined  with  one 
grain  of  opium.  Dr.  Zollickoffer  considers  it  a  useful 
tonic  in  doses  of  ten  to  twenty  grains.  The  Indians  use  it 
in  lues  venerea.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  It  is 
also  employed  by  the  vegetable  practitioners.  See  How- 
ard's Imp.  Syst.  Bot.  Med.  291.  It  is  supposed  to  contain 
a  bitter  extractive  principle,  a  coloring  principle,  soluble 
in  water,  caoutchouc,  and  a  volatile  oil.  The  wounded 
plant  emits  a  copious  milky  juice. 

The  properties  mentioned  above  closely  resemble  those 
ascribed  to  the  "Amy  root"  (A.  cannabifium)  by  residents 
of  St.  John's,  South  Carolina,  viz:  a  laxative  united  with  a 
bitter  principle. 

ASCLEPIADACE^. 

Roots  generally  acrid  and  stimulating.  Some  of  them 
emetic. 

Gonolobus  macrophyllus,  Mich.  Variety  a  and  b.  Col- 
lected in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  vicinity  of  Charleston.  FL 
July. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  328 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  iii,  409;  Ann.  du  Museum,  xiv,  464.  It  is  one  of  the 
substitutes  for  colocynth.  Merat  says:  "Cette  apocynee 
des  Stats  Unis  passe  pour  fournir  le  sue  avec  lequel  les 
sauvages  de  ce  pays  empoisonnent  leurs  Heches." 

Asclepias  tuberosa,  W.  \      Pleurisy  root,  but- 

"  decumbens,  of  some  Bot.  J  terfly-weed.  Grows 
abundantly  in  pine  barrens;  collected  in  St.  John's;  New- 
bern.     Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  127;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  347; 
Chap.  Therap.  and  Mat.  Med.  i,  351 ;  Ed.  and  Vav.  Mat. 
Med.  345;  Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  219;  Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes, 
i,  326;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  ii,  65;  Thacher's  IT.  S.  Disp., 
art.  A.  tuberosa;  Bart.  M.  Bot,  i,.  244;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst. 
Bot.  304;  Am.  Med.  Record,  iii,  334;  Frost's  Elems.  Mat. 


486 

Med.  217;  Bell's  Pract.  Diet  82;  Cullen,  Mat.  Med.  i,  6; 
Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  467;  De  Cand.  Prodro- 
mus,  458;  Shec.  Flora  Carol.  220;  Barton's  Collec.  48; 
Lind.  JTat.  Syst.  Bot.  304.  This  plant  is  actively  diapho- 
retic and  expectorant,  without  being  stimulant,  "It  has 
the  singular  property  of  exciting  general  perspiration  with- 
out increasing  in  any  perceptible  degree  the  heat  of  the 
body."  (Lindiey,  see  A.  decumbens.)  In  large  doses  it  is 
purgative.  It  has  been  advantageously  used  in  rheuma- 
tism, in  most  pectoral  affections,  catarrh,  subacute  pneu- 
monia, and  in  phthisis,  as  a  palliative.  It  has  also  beeu 
favorably  employed  in  dysentery.  Shecut  says  that  thirty 
grains  of  the  powdered  root  at  a  dose  was  much  esteemed 
in  this  disease.  Dr.  McBride,  of  St.  John's,  Berkley,  South 
Carolina,  experimented  largely  with  it  in  pleurisy,  gener- 
ally finding  it  to  act  with  advantage.  Eberle  used  it;  and 
Dr.  Parker  employed  it  for  twenty  years  with  continued 
confidence.  In  a  communication  from  Dr.  John  Douglass, 
of  Chester  district,  South  Carolina,  we  have  the  results  of 
the  experiments  of  Mr.  McKeown,  who  believes  it  expec- 
torant, tonic,  diaphoretic,  and  sudorific;  and  who  has  em- 
ployed it  with  benefit  in  pectoral  affections;  he  considers 
that  a  teaspoonful  of  the  powdered  root  in  hot  water,  often 
repeated,  acts  as  a  safe  and  useful  substitute  for  the  prepa- 
rations of  antimony;  he  has  also  observed  that  the  same 
quantity  of  the  root,  with  half  the  amount  of  snakeroot 
(Aristoloch  serp.),  given  several  times  a  day  for  several  days 
will  induce  soreness  of  the  mouth,  with  free  and  copious 
salivation;  this  soon  subsides,  without  any  of  those  disa- 
greeable results  which  follow  the  administration  of  the 
mercurial  preparations.  Should  this  effect  be  constant,  it 
might  be  made  of  great  service.  The  powdered  root  has 
been  employed  as  an  escharotic,  for  restraining  the  growth 
of  fungous  flesh  in  ulcers.  When  the  diaphoretic  effect  is 
desired  the  decoction  of  one  ounce  of  the  root  to  one 
quart  of  water  is  best,  given  in  doses  of  a  teacupful  every 
two  hours.  Dose  of  powdered  root,  twenty  grains  to  one 
drachm  several  times  a  day; 


487 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Camden,  South  Carolina,  the 
root  of  silk-weed  (pleurisy  root)  is  much  relied  on  in  rheu- 
matism. The  root  is  macerated  in  brandy.  It  is  believed 
by  many  that  it  has  a  marked  influence  in  promoting  the 
excretion  of  bile,  and  the  tincture  is  said  by  those  who  use 
it  to  have  a  laxative  effect.  It  is  used  as  a  substitute  for 
calomel.  This  testimony,  recently  obtained  (1862),  will  be 
found  to  correspond  with  what  was  written  by  me  long 
since  of  the  pleurisy  root  (A.  tuberosa),  in  my  report  on 
Med.  Bot,  S.  C.  1849. 

From  a  work  reputed  to  contain  the  practice  of  physic 
among  the  Cherokee  Indians,  entitled  the  "Indian  Guide 
to  Health,"  I  quote  the  following,  which  adds  little  to  our 
previous  knowledge:  "Few  articles  in  the  Indian  materia 
medica  maintain  a  higher  standing  than  pleurisy  root.  It 
acts  as  a  mild  purgative  on  the  bowels,  but  it  is  more  par- 
ticularly and  inestimably  valuable  in  producing  expectora- 
tion, or  throwing  off"  mucus  from  the  throat  and  lungs, 
and  in  causing  perspiration  or  sweating  when  other  reme- 
dies fail.  This  root  possesses  one  remarkable  power  — 
given  in  proper  quantities  it  affects  the  skin  and  produces 
perspiration  without  heating  the  body  or  increasing  circu- 
lation. It  is  a  valuable  article  in  diseases  of  the  lungs 
generally.  Its  use  in  a  strong  decoction  often  gives  relief 
to  pain  in  the  chest,  stomach,  and  intestines,  by  promoting 
perspiration  and  assisting  digestion." 

The  milky  juice  exuding  from  Asdepias,  Leontodon,  Lac- 
duea,  and  the  EuphorbiacecB  yield  caoutchouc.  I  would  sup- 
pose that  the  queen's  delight  {Stillingia),  which  is  abundant, 
would  also  furnish  it.  It  might  be  procured  from  those 
which  give  a  large  exudation  of  milk  when  cut.  I  have 
collected  and  dried  the  juice  of  Asdepias.  "When  any  of 
these  plants  are  incised  there  exudes  a  milky  juice  which 
by  exposure  to  the  air  gradually  lets  fall  concrete  caout- 
chouc. The  juice  is  pale  yellow,  thick,  and  similar  to 
cream.  When  spread  in  thin  layers  on  a  solid  body  it  soon 
becomes  solid  caoutchouc,  amounting  to  forty-five  per  cent, 
of  the   weight   of  juice.      The   black   color   is   owing  to 


488 

the  method  of  drying  it  after  it  has  been  spread  upon 
moulds."  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.,  art.  "  Caoutchouc.1'  Ure's 
Diet,  of  Arts  contains  full  descriptions  of  processes,  adapt- 
ability, etc.  Caoutchouc  is  insoluble  in  water,  alcohol, 
acids,  or  alkalies.  By  long  boiling  in  water  it  softens  and 
swells  up.     It  is  slightly  soluble  in  ether. 

The  downy  substance  attached  to  the  seed  of  the  silk- 
weeds  may  be  used  for  many  purposes  —  for  stuffing  beds, 
cushions,  etc. 

Asclepias  incarnata,  W.  "Grows  in  the  valleys  among 
the  mountains  of  South  Carolina,"  Elliott;  vicinity  of 
Charleston,  Bach.;  Xewbern.     Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Bisp.  126;  Journal  Phil.  Coll.  Pharm.  iv,  283; 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  -±55.  Br.  Griffith  speaks  of  it  as  a  use- 
ful emetic  and  cathartic ;  and  Br.  Tully  says  it  may  be 
given  advantageously  in  asthma,  catarrh,  and  syphilis  ;  no 
doubt  very  similar  in  properties  to  the  A.  decumbens. 

Asclepias  verticillata,  L.  Dwarf  milk-weed.  Collected  in 
St.  John's,  Berkley;  Xewbern. 

This  is  a  domestic  remedy  in  repute  for  the  bite  of 
snakes.  It  is  said  by  those  who  have  used  it  in  the  upper 
districts  of  South  Carolina  to  be  very  deservedly  celebrated. 
These  plants  emit  a  milky  juice  when  bruised  ;  with  the 
aigrette  of  the  seeds,  a  fleecy  down  one  or  two  inches  in 
length,  somewhat  resembling  silk,  it  has  been  proposed  to 
make  cloth. 

Asclepias  cornuti.     Becaisne.  1     Virginian  swallow-wort; 

A.  syriaca,  L.  J  Virginian  silk.   Fields  and 

roadsides ;  Xewbern.     Chap.,  and  Croom's  Cat. 

The  flowers  are  highly  fragrant,  especially  in  the  morn- 
ing and  the  evening,  and  "are  gathered  in  their  native 
country  while  the  clew  is  on  them,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  sugar.  The  young  shoots  in  spring  are  a  very 
good  substitute  for  asparagus;  the  down  of  the  pods  serves 
well  for  stuffing  pillows  and  cushions,  for  making  thread 


489 

and  cloth,  and  for  some  other  purposes ;  the  fibrous  matter 
of  the  stems  is  abundant  in  quantity,  excellent  in  flax-like 
quality,  and  is  used  and  highly  appreciated  in  some  parts 
of  North  America  for  making  thread,  cordage,  fishing  nets, 
and  cloth.  It  has  been  successfully  experimented  with  as 
an  agricultural  plant  in  France  and  Germany.  It  may  be 
propagated  either  by  transplanting  roots  in  rows  about  two 
feet  apart  or  by  sowing  seeds."  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. 
Many  of  the  milk-weeds  have  strong  fibres.  The  above 
only  confirms  a  note  in  Prof.  Gibbes'  "Catalogue"  as  fol- 
lows: the  cortical  fibres  of  many  possess  great  strength,  as 
is  easily  proved  by  the  attempt  to  break  their  stems.  From 
those  of  the  A.  syriaca  a  number  of  articles  have  lately 
been  manufactured  at  Salem,  Mass. —  such  as  thread,  net- 
ting, bags  and  purses,  tapes,  socks,  knotting  for  fringes, 
etc.  The  silk  from  the  pods  forms  an  excellent  article  for 
stuffing  cushions,  pillows,  mattresses,  etc.  Mixed  with  cot- 
ton it  may  be  spun  into  yarn  for  gloves  and  socks.  It  is 
used  in  making  artificial  feathers  and  flowers.  Bonnets, 
capes,  and  tippets  of  very  handsome  appearance  are  made 
by  sewing  the  tufts  in  overlapping  rows  on  cotton  or  silk. 
In  Germany,  in  1785,  the  cultivation  of  the  A.  syriaca  was 
begun  with  six  plants,  and  in  eight  years  there  was  a  plan- 
tation of  thirty  thousand,  which  yielded  eight  hundred 
pounds  of  silk  the  first  crop,  three  hundred  and  fifty-five 
the  second,  and  six  hundred  the  third.  In  the  same 
country,  a  paper  was  made  from  the  cortical  fibres  which 
was  distinguished  with  difficulty  from  that  made  from 
rags.  See  Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  xxviii,  p.  380,  and  an 
article  in  the  Horticultural  Register,  by  Dearborn,  in  which 
he  also  gives  an  account  of  his  mode  of  cultivation  of  the 
same  plant  for  its  young  shoots,  which  he  considers  nearly 
equal  to  asparagus.  Loc.  cit.  sup.  From  nearly  all  the  spe- 
cies of  silk-weed  the  down  from  the  seeds  may  be  collected. 
They  abound  in  almost  every  portion  of  the  Confederate 
States. 

The  Indian  doctors  use  the  root  of  the  silk-weed  as  a  di- 
uretic decoction  in  gonorrhoea.     The   root  is    said  to  be 


490 

emetic  and  cathartic,  and  is  used  in  dropsy.  The  A.  curas- 
savica,  L.  curasoa,  which  grows  in  South  Florida  (Chap.), 
is  possessed  of  emetic  and  sudorific  qualities. 

Oleace^e.     (The  Olive  Tribe.) 
This  order  is  said  by  Lindley  to  offer  one  of  the  few 
instances  of  oil  being  contained  in  the  pericarp,  it  being 
in  most  other  plants  yielded  by  the  seeds. 

Olea  Mzropea.     European  olive.     Introduced. 

This  well-known  plant,  of  which  it  has  been  said  "Olea 
prima  omnium  arborum  est,"  is  cultivated  in  Charleston  as  a 
garden  plant,  and  matures  its  fruit.  A  tree  in  Lamboll 
street  bears  fruit  of  good  size,  which  I  have  seen  made  into 
excellent  "olives"  for  table  use;  also  pickled.  Repeated 
attempts  have  been  made  to  cultivate  the  olive,  and  little 
doubt  exists  that  with  greater  efforts  it  may  become  a  valu- 
able oil-bearing  plant.  In  Patent  Office  Reports,  1854,  p. 
28,  is  a  brief  statement  of  several  efforts  to  introduce 
the  olive  into  South  Caroliua,  Georgia,  and  other  Southern 
states.  A  paper  was  also  published  on  this  subject  by 
Judge  King,  of  Charleston.  In  1755  Mr.  Henry  Laurens 
imported  and  planted  olives,  capers,  limes,  ginger,  etc. 
The  latter  is  still  easily  raised  in  our  gardens  in  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida.  In  1785  the  olive  was  suc- 
cessfully grown  in  South  Carolina.  It  is  not  easily  propa- 
gated from  seeds.  A  colony  of  Greeks,  settled  at  East 
Florida,  had  planted  the  olive,  and  sixty  years  ago  it  is  said 
there  were  large  trees  marking  the  site  of  that  settlement. 
The  tree  was  also  cultivated  by  Mr.  Cooper,  of  St.  Simons, 
and  Mr.  Spalding,  of  Georgia.  See  a  paper  in  Southern 
Cultivator,  p.  7,  vol.  iii;  also  Jefferson's  letter  to  Drayton, 
in  his  Memoirs. 

As  this  plant  is  an  important  one,  and  experience  con- 
cerning its  propagation  in  the  Confederate  States  is  difficult 
to  obtain,  I  add  the  following  statement  of  Mr.  R.  Chis- 
olm,  Beaufort  district,  S.  C. : 

"  My  olive  trees  were  imported  from  the  neighborhood 


491 

of  Florence,  by  the  way  of  Leghorn,  in  1833,  and  consist 
of  two  kinds — the  small,  round,  esteemed  best  for  oil,  and 
a  much  larger  and  more  oval-fruited  sort,  which  turns 
white  before  it  becomes  purple,  the  latter  having  been  sent 
as  stalks  to  engraft  the  other  upon.  The  winter  of  1834-5 
was  an  excessively  cold  one,  and  injured  to  the  roots  all 
the  orange  trees  of  the  South,  and  some  of  them  so  severely 
that  they  never  afterward  sprouted ;  yet  I  do  not  recollect 
that  my  olive  trees  suffered  at  all  —  certainly,  none  were 
killed.  No  cold  which  we  have  experienced  since  has 
ever  caused  them  to  shed  a  leaf,  whereas  our  orange 
trees  have  suffered  much,  and  about  four  years  since  barely 
escaped  being  killed  to  the  ground.  My  olive  trees  are 
planted  in  a  rather  flat,  clayey  piece  of  land,  quite  near  the 
salt  water,  and  but  little  elevated  above  high  tides.  In 
Italy,  I  believe,  it  is  generally  thought  that  this  tree  does 
not  thrive  well  far  from  the  sea,  but  does  best  on  what  they 
call  a  fat  soil,  which  contains  more  or  less  clay.  From 
what  I  have  seen  of  it  on  sandy  soils  in  this  vicinity  it  has 
proved  not  very  fruitful.  Finding  that  my  trees  grew  very 
slowly,  and  not  expecting  to  derive  profit  enough  from 
them  to  pay  for  their  culture,  the  idea  occurred  to  me  of 
trying  to  cultivate  the  sweet  potato,  field  and  cow-peas 
among  them,  hoping  that  the  expense  of  cultivating  the 
olive  might  be  covered  by  these  means.  The  land  was 
well  manured  every  year  in  June  and  cultivated  with  one 
or  the  other  of  these  crops,  in  such  a  manner  as  the  other 
operations  of  the  plantation  would  render  convenient, 
generally,  however,  with  sweet  potatoes,  irrespective  of  ro- 
tation. The  result  has  much  more  than  answered  my  ex- 
pectations, as  I  very  seldom  failed  to  make  a  fair  crop  of 
potatoes,  and  the  trees  have  grown  vigorously,  and  rapidly 
come  into  bearing,  and  have  continued  to  bear  good  crops 
of  fruit  every  year,  occasionally  abundant  ones ;  while  in 
Europe  the  habit  of  almost  every  variety  of  this  tree  is 
to  bear  only  in  alternate  years.  As  the  olive  ripens  during 
the  months  of  October  and  November,  at  a  time  when  we 
are  straining  every  nerve  to  save  most  of  our  other  crops, 


492 

no  attempt  has  ever  been  made  to  gather  all  the  fruit;  but 
one  year  enough  was  gathered,  pounded  in  a  mortar  and 
the  oil  pressed  out,  to  justify  me  in  saying  that  I  produced 
a  very  clear  and  good  looking  article,  which  was  exhibited 
about  two  years  since  at  the  Fair  at  the  South  Carolina 
Institute.  The  only  use  that  has  yet  been  made  of  the 
olives  is  to  pickle  them  while  green,  in  a  full  grown  state, 
in  August  or  September,  for  which  purpose  they  seem 
admirably  adapted.  A  few  may  now  be  found  on  sale, 
which  are  preferred  to  those  imported.  The  recipe  for 
pickling  was  obtained  from  France,  and  is  as  follows: 
'For  each  pound  of  the  fruit  take  a  pound  of  strong  ashes 
(those  of  the  hickory  wood  are  the  best  we  have)  and  an 
ounce  of  good  slacked  lime;  mix  the  lime  and  ashes  with 
water  until  a  soft  paste  or  mortar  is  formed,  into  which 
stir  or  imbed  the  olives,  and  finish  by  covering  the 
whole  mass  with  a  layer  of  dry  ashes.  Let  them  lie  in 
this  state  until  all  the  bitumen  is  extracted,  which  may 
be  known  by  the  stones  slipping  readily  out  of  the  pulp 
when  squeezed  between  the  forefinger  and  thumb,  for 
which  purpose  a  few  may  be  tried  once  an  hour,  or  oftener 
if  desired.  The  length  of  time  required  for  this  will 
depend  entirely  upon  the  quality  of  the  ashes  and  lime, 
and  may  vaiw  from  two  to  three  hours  to  as  many  days. 
As  soon  as  the  olives  have  been  deprived  of  their  bitter- 
ness they  must  be  washed  clean  and  put  to  soak  in  fresh 
water,  which  must  be  changed  about  once  an  hour  for 
twenty-four  hours,  when  the  taste  of  potash  will  have  been 
removed  and  the  water  cease  to  be  discolored.  The  olives 
must  then  be  put  into  bottles  or  jars,  and  a  strong  brine 
put  over  them  made  from  good  rock  or  alum  salt.  This 
brine  will  generally  require  to  be  changed  several  times,  in 
consequence  of  becoming  ash-colored,  after  which  the 
bottles  must  be  sealed  air-tight,  and  if  kept  in  a  cool,  dry, 
dark  place  the  olives  will  keep  good  for  years.'  Olives 
carefully  cured  after  this  plan  will  be  found  less  salty  than 
those  pickled  in  France  which  are  usually  sold  in  this 
country,  and  will  retain  much  of  the  nutty  flavor  of  pure 


493 

olive  oil.  I  do  not  think  that  the  making  of  oil  from  the 
olive  will  be  likely  to  prove  sufficiently  profitable  to  be 
pursued  in  this  country  for  many  years,  as  labor  is  expen- 
sive, and  other  crops  will  necessarily  take  the  lead  unless 
the  price  of  labor  or  soil  in  Europe  should  be  increased, 
when  there  will,  consequently,  become  a  greater  demand." 

The  oil  is  obtained  of  two  or  three  qualities.  The 
virgin  oil  is  that  which  spontaneously  separates  from  the 
paste  of  crushed  olives.  This  is  purified  for  watchmakers 
by  placing  in  a  vial  containing  in  it  a  slip  of  sheet  lead.  In 
Sicily  the  olives  are  beaten  from  the  tree.  It  is  allowed  to 
ferment  in  bins  or  receptacles.  It  is  then  conveyed  to  a 
mill,  ground  into  a  paste  under  heavy  stones,  and  chaff  or 
small  straw  occasionally  thrown  in  to  retain  the  oil.  The 
pulp  is  then  rammed  into  round,  flat  baskets,  made  of  a 
strong  kind  of  rush,  and  submitted  to  a  press.  "When  the 
oil  ceases  to  run  from  a  first  pressing,  the  baskets  are 
removed,  their  contents  again  pressed  under  the  mill, 
returned  to  the  baskets,  submitted  to  the  press  again.  Hot 
water  is  sometimes  thrown  over  the  mass  to  increase  the 
flow  of  oil,  the  latter  being  subsequently  skimmed  from 
the  surface.  What  is  finally  left  in  the  baskets,  after  the 
third  pressure,  is  refuse  material,  used  for  lamps  by  curriers 
and  tanners.  To  procure  the  best  oil  no  fermentation 
should  be  used.  Consult  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Patent 
Office  Reports,  1859,  p.  114. 

We  have  the  Oka  Americana  growing  in  the  Confederate 
States.  The  fruit  matures  near  Charleston,  but  not  in  St. 
John's,  Berkley. 

Oka  Americana.  Devil-wood  ;  American  olive.  I  have 
collected  it  near  Charleston,  Eutledge's  farm,  and  at  Sarra- 
zin  (Mrs.  I.  S.  P.),  St.  John's,  S.  C.  I  have  never  seen 
berries  except  near  Charleston.     Rare  and  ornamental. 

The  wood  has  a  fine  and  compact  grain,  and  when  per- 
fectly dry  it  is  excessively  hard  and  very  difficult  to  cut 
or  split;  hence  is  derived  the  name  of  devil-wood.  On 
laving  bare  the  cellular  intes-uments  of  the  bark  its  natural 


494 

yellow  hue  changes  instantaneously  to  a  deep  red,  and  the 
wood,  by  contact  with  the  air,  assumes  a  rosy  complexion. 
Michaux**suggests  that  experiments  be  made  to  test  the 
nature  of  this  active  principle.  Am.  Sylva ;  Farmer's 
En  eye. 

Chionanthus  Virginica,  Walter.  Old-man's  beard;  poison 
ash;  fringe  tree.  A  very  ornamental  plant;  collected  in 
the  swamps  of  St.  John's,  Berkley  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston ; 
Kewbern.     Ft,  April. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  jSTotes,  i,  6.  An  infusion  of  the  roots  is 
given  in  long  standing  intermittents.  It  is  tonic  and  feb- 
rifugal, with  some  acro-narcotic  properties  ;  used  in  the 
form  of  cataplasm  as  an  application  to  wounds  and  ulcers. 
Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  44. 

Fraxinus  acuminata,  La.  M. '  Grows  in  rich  swamps ;  St. 
John's;  I^ewbern. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  673.  The  wood  is  light,  elastic, 
and  strong;  used  by  carriage  and  cabinet  makers  and 
wheelwrights. 

Fraxinus  Americana,  L.     White  ash. 

In  the  Confederate  States  we  have  the  white,  red,  green, 
blue,  and  water  ash.  Wilson  says  that  F.  Americana  differs 
in  few  respects  from  the  English  ash,  F.  excelsior,  which  in 
England  is  used  for  every  conceivable  purpose  by  the 
farmer,  turner,  cabinet-maker,  wheelwright,  and  for  fire- 
wood. "The  bark  of  the  tree  is  used  for  tanning  calfskins, 
and  for  dyeing  green,  blue,  and  black;  the  ashes  of  the 
trunk,  root,  or  branches  are  comparatively  rich  in  potash." 
Coal  was  also  made  from  it.  The  leaves  of  the  F.  Ameri- 
cana "are  said  to  be  so  highly  offensive  to  the  rattlesnake 
that  that  formidable  reptile  is  never  found  on  land  where  it 
grows;  and  it  is  the  practice  of  hunters  and  others  having 
occasion  to  traverse  the  woods  in  the  summer  months  to 
stuff  their  boots  or  shoes  with  white  ash  leaves  as  a  pre- 
ventive of  the  bite  of  the  rattlesnake." 


495 


Class  II.     GYMNO  SPERMS. 

Conifers  or  Pin ace.e.     {The  Fir  Tribe.) 

One  of  the  most  important  orders,  whether  we  view  it  in 
reference  to  its  timber  or  its  secretions. 

Pinus  palustris,  L.  )  Long-leaved  pine.  The  specilic 
"  australis,  Mich,  f  name  is  a  misnomer,  as  it  grows 
on  high  land.  Grows  along  the  sea-coast  in  the  tertiary 
region,  and  within  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  of  the 
ocean.  1  have  observed  it  in  the  lower  part  of  Fairfield 
district;  iTewbern.     Fl.  May. 

Bell's  Pract.  Diet.  359;  V.  S.  Disp.  709  ;  Pe.  Mat.  Med. 
ii,  167;  Ball,  Gar.  M.  Med.  309;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  564. 
This  is  the  most  valuable  of  the  pine  trees,  and  from  it  the 
largest  amount  of  tar,  pitch,  and  turpentine  is  obtained. 
The  spirits  of  turpentine  is  a  well-known  and  valuable  dif- 
fusible stimulant,  diuretic,  and  anthelmintic,  in  large  doses 
acting  as  a  laxative.  It  is  from  this  species  that  the  Boston 
turpentine  is  obtained,  which  enters  into  the  composition 
of  a  soap  of  very  superior  quality.  This  tree  shoots  up  into 
a  straight  shaft,  devoid  of  branches  sometimes  for  fifty  or 
sixty  feet ;  the  heart  is  very  durable,  and  the  wood  is  em- 
ployed for  almost  every  purpose.  It  is,  indeed,  one  of  the 
great  gifts  of  God  to  man. 

The  forests  of  pine  are  not  only  useful  but  beautiful. 
The  characteristic  moan  of  the  winds  through  their  branch- 
es, their  funereal  aspect,  almost  limitless  extent,  and  the 
health-giving  influences  which  attend  their  presence,  all 
contribute  to  make  the  pine  an  object  of  peculiar  interest 
to  the  people  of  the  Southern  states.  The  terebinthinate 
odor  of  the  tree,  some  electrical  influence  of  its  long,  spear- 
like leaves,  a  certain  modification  of  "ozone"  (an  allo- 
typic condition  of  oxygen,  see  Faraday's  examinations), 
are  severally  esteemed  to  modify  the  atmosphere  and 
diminish  the  effects  of  malaria.  They  also  create  a  me- 
chanical barrier  to  the  ingress  of  malaria,  and  hence  the 


496 

pine  land  residences,  though  contemned  for  their  sterile 
aspect,  have  proved  a  blessing  to  the  Southern  planters  in 
affording  a  comparatively  safe  refuge  from  the  unhealthy 
emanations  of  the  neighboring  plantations.  The  seeds  of 
the  loug-leaf  pine  are  edible  and  nutritious,  and  are  largely 
consumed  b}r  hogs. 

I  need  not  describe  the  processes  for  making  tar.  It  is 
a  very  compound  substance  (see  Rural  Cyc),  and  contains 
modified  resin,  oil  of  turpentine,  empyreumatic  oil,  acetic 
acid,  charcoal,  and  water,  and  when  inspissated  by  boiling 
is  converted  into  pitch.  It  is  extensively  used  in  the  cord- 
age, caulking,  and  sheathing  of  ships,  to  preserve  them 
from  the  weather.  It  is  of  great  service  in  many  of  the 
arts  and  medicinal  usages  connected  with  agriculture.  I 
will  add  what  Wilson  states  of  its  economical  employment, 
as  it  ma}'  be  made  of  great  service  on  our  plantations  and 
in  veterinar}"  medicine.  It  serves  well  as  a  paint  to  coarse- 
kinds  of  boarding  and  paling,  but  is  improved  in  its  use 
by  the  addition  of  tallow  or  other  coarse  fat.  It  is  applied 
as  a  covering  to  cuts  on  animals  and  to  parts  affected  by 
the  fly.  It  serves,  either  alone  or  in  combination  with 
some  fatty  substance,  to  defend  the  sore  or  diseased  feet  of 
cattle  from  being  further  injured  by  wet  or  abrasion ;  when 
spread  upon  coarse  cloth  it  is  a  prime  covering  for  broken 
horns,  and  makes  an  excellent  application  to  various  kinds 
of  wounds  and  punctures  in  cattle.  It  is  given  internally 
to  horses  as  a  remedy  for  cough,  also  as  a  detergent  and 
local  remedy  for  scaly  and  eruptive  diseases.  Rural  Cyc. 
It  is  used  to  cover  the  lower  surface  of  posts  to  prevent 
their  rotting,  and  grain  soaked  in  it  is  not  eaten  by  birds. 
Tar  water  was  formerly  much  used  in  medicine,  but  at 
present  wood  naphtha  and  pyroligneous  acid,  etc.,  are  more 
commonly  employed. 

The  buds  of  the  pine  or  the  inside  barks  steeped  in 
water  is  a  favorite  domestic  remedy  on  our  plantations  for 
colds  and  coughs.  Bits  of  fat  pine  steeped  in  gin  are  also 
used.  A  decoction  of  the  inside  bark  is  given  daily  as  a 
remedy   in    chronic   diarrhoea.      Pills   of   resin   are   often 


497 

employed  as  a  simple  diuretic.     Resin  also  enters  into  the 
composition  of  strengthening  plasters. 

A  preparation  with  rosin,  to  preserve  leather  and  shoes, 
is  recommended  by  Col.  Macerone,  in  the  Mechanic's 
Magazine,  1848.  I  hope  it  will  be  found  useful  to  our 
soldiers  and  others  : 

A  cheap  and  easy  method  to  preserve  the  feet  from  wet  and  the 
boots  from  wear. — A  pound  of  tallow  and  a  half-pound  of 
rosin  are  put  into  a  pot  on  the  fire,  and  when  melted  and 
mixed  it  is  applied  while  hot,  with  a  brush,  to  the  leather 
previously  warmed.  This  must  be  done  thoroughly  and 
repeatedly.  If  it  is  desired  that  the  leather  should  receive 
polish,  dissolve  an  ounce  of  beeswax  with  an  ounce  of 
turpentine,  to  which  add  a  teaspoonful  of  lamp-black ;  a 
day  or  two  after  the  leather  has  been  treated  with  the 
tallow  and  rosin  rub  over  it  the  wax  and  turpentine, 
but  not  before  the  fire.  Tallow  or  any  other  grease 
becomes  rancid  and  rots  the  stitching  as  well  as  the 
leather,  but  the  rosin  gives  it  an  antiseptic  quality  which 
preserves  the  whole.  Boots  or  shoes  for  the  soldier,  as  wTell 
as  for  all  who  go  much  in  the  wet,  should  be  so  large  as  to 
admit  of  wearing  in  them  cork  soles — cork  being  a  bad 
conductor  of  heat. 

Wilson  in  his  Rural  Cyc,  articles  "Fuel"  and  "Char- 
coal," gives  the  best  mode  of  preparation,  including  the 
quality  and  yield  of  several  trees.  See  Salix,  in  this 
volume,  for  manufacture  of  charcoal. 

Lamp-black  is  obtained  by  the  turpentine  manufacturers 
"  from  the  combustion  of  the  refuse  of  their  operations  in 
furnaces  appropriated  to  that  purpose.  The  smoke  depos- 
its itself  on  the  sacking  which  is  hung  up ;  it  is  swept  off 
and  sold  for  common  use  without  further  preparation. 
The  lamp-black  in  this  state  contains  some  oil,  which  is 
separated  by  being  heated  to  redness  in  a  close  vessel." 
This  may  be  easily  made  in  our  large  turpentine  distilleries 
throughout  the  Confederate  States. 

The  chief  consumption  of  charcoal  is  as  fuel.  It  is  also 
employed  as  a  tooth  powder  and  to  purify  tainted  meat. 

R9 


498 

No  mode  of  preparation  for  the  first  of  these  objects  is 
at  all  necessary,  and  for  the  two  last  it  must  merely  be 
reduced  to  a  fine  powder.  It  forms  a  part  of  all  reducing 
fluxes.  It  is  the  basis  of  most  black  paints  and  varnishes. 
It  is  used  to  polish  brass  and  copper,  and  is  an  excellent 
clarifier.  It  is  used  in  farriery,  in  combination  with  lin- 
seed meal,  as  an  antiseptic  cataplasm  for  cracked  heels  and 
foul  and  fetid  ulcers.  Powdered  charcoal  must  be  heated 
to  redness  in  a  covered  crucible,  with  an  opening  in  the 
middle  of  the  cover,  and  kept  in  that  state  till  no  flame 
issues  out;  it  must  then  be  withdrawn,  allowed  to  cool, 
and  then  put  into  close  vessels.  Whenever  either  wine, 
vinegar,  or  other  fluid  is  to  be  clarified  it  is  simply  to  be 
mixed  with  the  liquor ;  a  froth  appears  at  the  surface,  and 
after  infiltration  it  is  pure  and  colorless.  Charcoal  is  also 
used  as  a  valuable  manure,  fully  described  in  Wilson's 
Rural  Cyc.  Charcoal  and  sand  placed  in  the  bottom  of  a 
barrel  or  hogshead  will  purify  water  passed  through  it. 
(See  Salix).  It  is  generally  believed  that  it  will  prevent 
contagion,  yellow  fever,  etc.,  if  taken  during  the  preva- 
lence of  an  epidemic.  It  is  also  used  as  a  mild  mechan- 
ical laxative  in  dyspepsia  with  foul  stomach.  See  medical 
authors.  Its  power  of  absorbing  gases  and  vapors  is  well 
known. 

Creosote,  also  a  product  of  the  pine,  is  obtained  from 
"  crude  pyroligneous  acid  and  the  heavy  portion  of  the  oil 
of  wood  tar,  sometimes  called  the  essence  of  tar,  and  used 
in  the  preservation  of  meat,  the  flavoring  of  hams,  and  as  a 
remedial  agent  for  its  constringing  effect."  It  coagulates 
albumen.  Fresh  meat  suspended  over  creosote  will  be 
preserved.  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc;  Ure's  Diet.;  and  medical 
authors.  Pyroligneous  acid,  obtained  from  the  pine,  is 
used  in  preserving  meat  rapidly  in  lieu  of  the  slow  process 
of  "smoking." 

Vinegar  and  acetic  acid,  obtained  from  pyroligneous 
acid,  is  purified  by  converting  it  into  acetate  of  soda  and 
decomposing  that  salt  by  means  of  sulphuric  acid.  The 
acetic  acid,  after  being  distilled,  is  lowered  by  water, 
colored,  and  used  as  vinegar. 


499 

Turpentine  is  now  one  of  the  most  universally  employed 
of  remedial  agents  ;  it  is  quite  surprising  to  how  great  a 
diversity  of  conditions  it  is  applicable ;  all  these  depend 
naturally,  however,  upon  its  natural  properties.  See 
Trousseau's  "  Therapeutique,''  Stille's  Mat.  Med.,  and  re- 
cent authors.  As  an  external  rubefacient,  a  stimulant,  an 
astringent,  a  stimulating  diuretic  and  laxative,  it  admits 
of  frequent  application.  In  the  arts,  also,  and  as  a  material 
in  the  manufacture  of  soap,  as  a  resin,  and  for  the  produc- 
tion of  light,  it  is  equally  worthy  of  attention.  To  burn 
turpentine  in  lamps  it  only  requires  purification  by  redis- 
tillation, and  a  burner  which  will  give  increased  oxygen 
for  the  consumption  of  the  large  amount  of  carbon  which 
it  contains. 

The  fumes  of  turpentine  inhaled  will  cause  irritability  of 
the  kidney  if  breathed.  I  have  been  called  to  attend  sev- 
eral negroes  with  dysuria  and  bloody  urine  from  sleeping 
aboard  a  boat  laden  with  resin  and  turpentine  in  defective 
barrels.  "Turpentine  is  one  of  the  best  means  of  chasing 
away  fleas  whether  from  place  or  animal,  and  a  bed  of  very 
fine  shavings  of  some  wood  which  abounds  in  turpentine 
is  one  of  the  easiest  and  most  effectual  means  of  banishing 
them  from  dogs."  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  See,  also,  uJu- 
glans."  See  "iTv/rm,"  Rural  Cyc,  for  preservation  of  tim- 
ber; also  Boussingault's  Rural  Econ.  and  Agricult.  Chem- 
istry. "Wilson  states  that  the  oil  of  turpentine  is  almost  a 
specific  for  spasm  in  the  bowels  of  the  horse. 

That  variety  of  long-leaved  pine  which  acquires  a  reddish 
hue  from  growing  in  certain  soils,  and  is  known  by  the 
name  of  red  pine,  is  most  esteemed,  and  in  the  opinion  of 
some  shipwrights  is  as  solid  and  durable  on  the  sides  of 
vessels  as  the  white  oak,  but  is  said  to  form  less  perfect 
joints  at  stem  and  stern.  It  is  also  in  great  request  at  the 
North  for  flooring  boards.  The  long-leaved  pine  supplies 
what  is  known  as  naval  stores  both  to  the  United  States 
and  Europe.  Rural  Cyc.  Pyroligneous  acid,  obtained 
from  the  pine,  is  used  in  preserving  meat  rapidly  in  lieu  of 
the  slow  process  of  "smoking." 


500 

Turpentine  and  rosin  are  both  abundant  within  our  lira- 
its.  An  excellent  English  "mixture  to  render  leather  vjater- 
proof"  is  made  with  turpentine.  In  the  present  scarcity  of 
leather  and  exposure  of  our  soldiers,  I  think  its  introduc- 
tion not  inappropriate.  It  is  used  by  the  punt-shooters  in 
the  fenny  parts  of  England :  melt  together  in  an  earthen 
pipkin  half  a  pound  of  tallow,  four  ounces  of  hog's-lard, 
two  ounces  of  turpentine,  and  as  much  beeswax;  make  the 
boots  thoroughly  dry  and  warm,  and  rub  in  the  mixture 
well  with  a  little  tow  as  hot  as  the  hand  can  bear,  or  else 
hold  the  leather  over  a  very  gentle  fire  till  it  has  thorough- 
ly imbibed  the  mixture.  Another  mixture  for  the  same 
purpose,  and  used  by  fishermen,  soldiers,  and  others,  is 
made  thus:  Burgundy  pitch  (rosin?)  and  turpentine  each 
two  ounces,  tallow  four  ounces;  or  half  a  pound  of  bees- 
wax, a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  rosin,  and  a  quarter  of  a 
pound  of  beef  suet.  The  leather  must  be  dry  and  the  mix- 
ture warm.  Oil  of  lavender  also  prevents  leather  from 
moulding. 

To  make  cloth  water-proof  with  turpentine. — In  making  cloth 
water-proof  for  negroes  in  picking  cotton  when  the  weed 
is  wet  from  rains  or  dews,  and  also  for  tents,  the  following 
method  is  adopted:  "To  every  gallon  of  spirits  of  turpen- 
tine put  two  and  a  half  pounds  of  beeswax,  boil  well  in  a 
pot,  remove  the  fire,  and  while  it  is  hot  put  in  the  goods; 
move  it  about  until  it  is  well  saturated,  then  hang  it  up  to 
dry.  It  will  require  one  gallon  of  turpentine  to  every 
eight  yards  of  goods."     It  is  more  pliant  than  India-rubber. 

Candle  for  war  times,  made  with  rosin. — "A  model  eco- 
nomical candle,  sixty  yards  long,  for  use  of  soldiers  in 
camp,  which  will  burn  six  hours  each  night  for  six  months, 
and  all  that  light  at  a  cost  of  a  few  cents,  is  made  as  fol- 
lows: take  one  pound  of  beeswax,  and  three-fourths  of  a 
pound  of  rosin,  melt  them  together,  then  take  about  four 
threads  of  slack-twisted  cotton  for  a  wick,  and  draw  it 
about  three  times  through  the  melted  wax  and  rosin,  and 
wind  it  in  a  ball;  pull  the  end  up,  and  you  have  a  good 
candle." 


501  • 

A  preparation  of  turpentine,  probably  turpentine  redis- 
tilled, called  Terebene,  is  manufactured  at  Camden,  South 
Carolina,  and  largely  used  as  a  burning  fluid  since  the 
blockade.  The  price  is  moderate ;  it  gives  a  good  light, 
but  requires  a  modification  of  the  old  kerosene  chimney. 
"Palmetto  oil,"  so  called,  is  probably  pure  turpentine. 
Prof.  P.  A.  Porcher  has  used  and  recommends  turpentine, 
and  I  have  known  others  who  have  employed  it  for  months 
as  a  burning  fluid;  it  is  not  explosive.  In  using  these 
highly  carbonaceous  agents  an  abundance  of  air  must  be 
admitted  to  the  wick  to  consume  the  excess  of  carbon, 
which  would  otherwise  be  thrown  off  as  smoke  or  de- 
posited as  lamp-black ;  an  extra  amount  of  oxygen  is  of 
course  required  to  increase  the  combustion.  Lamp-black 
is  prepared  from  the  imperfect  destruction  of  turpentine  in 
large  burners  with  suitable  apparatus  to  collect  it;  it  may 
be  made  in  the  Confederate  States  with  profit. 

An  economical  "soap  without  grease"  is  made  with  rosin: 
to  four  gallons  of  strong  lye  add  ten  pounds  of  distilled 
rosin,  or  eight  pounds  of  pure  gum  not  distilled  and  free 
from  trash,  boil  steadily  until  there  is  no  rosin  to  be  seen, 
and  if  the  quantity  of  lye  is  not  sufficient  add  more,  and 
continue  to  add  until  the  rosin  disappears,  boiling  until  it 
makes  a  brown  jelly  soap.  This  soap  has  been  extensively 
made  in  St.  John's,  South  Carolina,  during  the  past  year 
(1862),  and  is  stated  to  be  "equal  to  the  best  soap  made  with 
grease."  I  am  induced  to  insert  here  the  following,  also, 
which  has  been  successfully  repeated  in  the  country  par- 
ishes of  South  Carolina  since  the  blockade:.  Tallow  candles 
equal  to  star. — To  two  pounds  of  tallow  add  one  teacupful 
of  good  strong  lye  from  wood  ashes.  Let  it  simmer  over  a 
slow  fire,  when  a  greasy  scum  collects  on  the  top,  which 
should  be  skimmed  off  and  used  in  making  soap,  with 
which  it  is  closely  related.  A  pure  tallow  candle  with  a 
small  wick  may  then  be  moulded,  which  is  said  to  equal 
sperm  caudles.  A  little  of  the  juice  of  the  prickly  pear 
or  beeswax  will  render  the  tallow  harder,  and  the  wicks 
steeped  in  a  little  spirits  of  turpentine  will  make  them 
burn  brighter. 


•  502 

The  following  preparation  of  coal  tar  I  append  on  account 
of  its  utility  in  camps  and  hospitals.  Pyroligneous  acid  is 
itself  a  well  known  disinfectant: 

Antiseptic  Powder.  —  To  correct  the  offensive  odors  of 
wounds,  mix  one  hundred  parts  of  calcined  plaster  of  Paris 
and  two  parts  of  coal  tar.  Rub  well  together.  Sprinkle 
this  upon  the  wound  once  or  twice  daily.  This  has  been 
fully  tested  for  years  in  the  Bellevue  hospital. 

Decoction  of  the  leaves  of  the  pine  tree  sweetened,  to  be 
freely  drunk  warm  when  going  to  bed  at  night  or  cold 
during  the  clay,  is  very  much  used  as  a  domestic  remedy 
for  colds  and  coughs.  The  holly  root  [Ilex  o-paca)  chewed, 
and  a  tea  made  of  the  blade  of  the  Indian  corn,  are  also 
given  for  colds;  the  latter  also  in  intermittent  fevers,  it  is 
said  with  much  success. 

Duration  of  wood  impregnated  ivith  sulphate  of  copper.  —  A 
paper  upon  this  subject,  translated  from  the  bulletin  of  the 
Horticultural  Society  of  the  Seine,  is  published  in  the 
Farmer  and  Planter,  p.  306,  October,  1861.  It  is  impreg- 
nated with  sulphate  of  copper  by  M.  Boucherie's  process, 
which  consists  in  causing  a  solution  of  the  sulphate  of  cop- 
per to  penetrate  to  the  interior  of  freshly  cut  woods,  which 
preserves  them  indefinitely  from  decay.  AIL  woods  do  not 
permit  penetration  equally.  "  The  beech,  elm,  and  fir 
readily  admit  all  kinds  of  salts  into  their  tissue.  The  oak 
impregnates  completely  its  sap  wood,  while  the  heart  of  the 
tree  absorbs  absolutely  nothing,"  so  that  that  part  of  the 
tree  which  was  thrown  away  may  with  this  process  be 
made  useful.  Sulphate  of  copper  was  found  to  be  superior 
to  corrosive  sublimate.  "The  process  of  the  injection  of 
wood  with  the  salts  of  copper  is  as  simple  as  easy.  For 
those  woods  intended  for  rods,  it  consists  in  plunging  the 
base  of  a  branch  furnished  with  leaves  into  a  tub  contain- 
ing the  solution.  The  liquid  ascends  into  the  branches  by 
the  action  of  the  leaves,  and  the  wood  is  impregnated  with 
the  preservative  salt.  As  for  logs,  the  operation  consists 
in  cutting  down  the  tree  to  be  operated  upon ;  fixing  at  its 
base  a  plank  which  is  fixed  by  means  of  a  screw  placed  in 


503 

the  centre,  and  which  can  be  tightened  at  will  when  placed 
in  the  centre  of  the  tree.  This  plank  has  on  the  side  to  be 
applied  to  the  bottom  of  the  tree  a  rather  thick  shield  of 
leather,  cloth,  pasteboard,  or  some  other  substance,  intend- 
ed to  establish  a  space  between  it  and  the  wood,  sufficient 
for  the  preserving  fluid  to  keep  in  contact  with  the  freshly 
cut  surface  of  the  tree.  The  liquid  is  brought  there  from  a 
tub  or  other  reservoir  by  the  help  of  a  slanting  pole  made 
on  the  upper  side  of  the  tree,  and  in  which  is  put  a  tube 
adapted  at  its  other  extremity  to  a  spigot  in  the  upper 
reservoir,  which  contains  the  solution.  A  pressure  of  five 
metres  suffices,  so  that  the  instant  the  sap  of  the  tree  is 
drawn  away  it  escapes  and  is  replaced  by  the  liquid  satu- 
rated with  sulphate  of  copper.  As  soon  as  the  operation 
terminates,  and  it  lasts  for  some  hours  for  the  most  difficult 
logs,  the  wood  can  be  sold  and  put  to  any  use."  M.  De- 
caisne  enumerates  the  immense  advantage  which  this  proc- 
ess would  procure  to  horticulture.  Boxes,  frames,  green- 
houses, supports,  etc.,  submitted  to  the  deleterious  action 
of  all  the  exterior  agents  which  destroy  them  so  rapidly,  all 
can  acquire  an  almost  indefinite  duration,  and  thus  furnish 
a  very  great  economy  of  time  and  money.  M.  Decaisne  op- 
poses the  process  by  simple  immersion.  M.  Audry  asserts 
that  even  cloths,  curtains,  etc.,  exposed  to  the  weather, 
"  last  eight  years  after  being  immersed  in  a  solution  of  one 
kilogramme  of  the  salt  to  eight  litres  of  water." 

On  the  subject  of  the  difference  between  dry  and  wet 
wood,  I  quote  from  a  paper  in  Southern  Field  and  Fireside 
on  "Economy  in  the  use  of  salt,"  by  the  editor.  It  is  ap- 
plicable to  the  present  wants  of  the  Southern  Confederacy: 
"  Last  year  we  killed  a  vicious  bullock  in  September,  when 
the  weather  was  hot  and  dry.  The  meat  was  cured  with  a 
trifle  of  salt,  and  we  have  some  of  it  now,  which  is  as  sweet 
and  good  as  dried  beef  can  be.  All  the  larger  bones  were 
cut  out  and  partly  used  for  making  soup  and  partly  for 
making  soap.  The  rib  pieces  were  dried  with  the  bones  in 
the  meat,  which  was  generally  cut  into  slices.  The  drying 
was  done  over  a  wood-coal  fire,  and  not  over  a  wood  fire — - 


504 

a  distinction  worth  remembering."     Ashes  are  sometimes 
used  a  substitute  for  salt  in  curing  meat. 

On  economy  in  plants,  manures,  etc.,  during  non-impor- 
tation of  guano:  "Weeds,  leaves  of  trees,  and  all  the  succu- 
lent plants  which  grow  so  abundantly  in  ditches  and  waste 
lands,  under  hedges  and  by  the  roadside,  if  cut  or  pulled 
when  in  flower,  and  slightly  fermented,  furnish  from 
twenty  to  twenty-five  times  more  manure  than  straw  does. 
These  plants  carefully  collected  furnish  to  the  agriculturist 
an  immense  resource  for  enriching  his  lands.  Besides  the 
advantages  arising  from  the  manure  furnished  by  these 
plants,  the  agriculturist  will  find  his  account  in  preventing 
the  dissemination  of  their  seeds,  which  by  propagating  in 
the  fields  deprive  the  crops  of  the  nourishment  of  the  soil. 
The  turf  that  borders  fields  and  highwa}rs  may  be  made  to 
answer  the  same  purpose  by  cutting  it  up  with  all  the  roots 
and  the  earth  adhering  to  them,  rotting  the  whole  in  a 
heap  and  carrying  the  mass  upon  the  field,  or  what  is  still 
better,  by  burning  it  and  dressing  the  land  with  the  prod- 
uct of  the  combustion."  The  alkaline  salts  are  most 
abuudant,  it  will  be  remembered,  in  green,  herbaceous 
plants.  M.  DeSaussure  has  observed  that  the  ashes  of 
young  plants  that  grew  upon  a  poor  soil  contained  at  least 
three-fourths  of  their  weight  of  alkaline  salts,  and  that 
those  of  leaves  of  trees  which  grew  from  their  beds  con- 
tained at  least  one-half.  The  ashes  of  the  seeds  contain  a 
greater  proportion  of  alkaline  salts  than  those  of  the  plants 
that  produced  them.  M.  Pertuis  found  that  the  trunks  of 
trees  afford  less  ashes  than  the  branches.  Chaptal's  Chem- 
istry, p.  97.  The  scrub  oak  ( V.  catesbcei)  is  said  to  yield 
ashes  very  rich  in  potash. 

Pinus  rigida,  L.     Pitch  pine.     Vicinity  of  Charleston. 

U.  S.  Disp.  207.  From  the  P.  palustris  and  from  this 
species  tar  is  extracted,  which  contains  two  principles  valu- 
able in  medicine,  viz :  picromar  and  creosote.  It  is  used  in 
chronic  cough  and  bronchial  inflammation.  Tar  water  had 
great  reputation  at  one  time,  and  is  really  not  devoid  of 


505 

some  value.  The  vapor  also  is  employed  in  bronchial  dis- 
eases, and  the  ointment  in  tinea  capitis  and  psoriasis.  The 
resin  from  these  species  is  frequently  made  into  pills,  and 
taken  for  colds  by  those  residing  in  the  country  —  among 
whom  also  it,is  frequently  employed  with  success  in  chron- 
ic blennorrhagia.  A  medical  friend  informs  me  that  in  one 
individual  who  took  the  pine  gum  in  large  quantities  it 
produced  an  irritation  of  the  urethral  mucous  membrane, 
similar  to  that  resulting  from  the  use  of  the  spirit  when 
improperly  given. 

Pinus  nigra,  Aiton.  Black  spruce ;  fir.  Confined  to 
the  high  ridges  of  the  Alleghany  mountains.     Fl.  May. 

U.  S.  Disp.  710;  Ell.  Bot.  ii,  641.  From  this  species  the 
essential  oil  of  spruce  is  obtained  ;  prepared  by  boiling  the 
young  branches  and  evaporating  the  decoction ;  it  has  a 
bitterish,  astringent,  acidulous  taste.  The  tall,  slender 
bodies  of  this  tree  are  used  for  the  spars  of  vessels. 

Pinus  strobus,  L.  White  or  Weymouth  pine,  northern 
pine.  Found  in  the  declivities  of  the  mountains  of  South 
Carolina,  in  the  dark,  sphagnous  swamps  along  rivulets. 
Fl.  May. 

The  wood  is  soft,  fine  grained,  and  light,  and  free  from 
turpentine.  It  is  used  for  the  inner  work  of  houses,  for 
boxes,  cabinets,  etc.  "Preferred  for  the  masts  of  vessels  to 
all  other  wood." 

The  wood  has  little  strength,  gives  a  feeble  hold  to  nails, 
and  is  liable  to  swell  from  humidity  in  the  atmosphere ; 
but  on  the  other  hand  it  is  soft,  light,  easily  wrought.  In 
ornamental  work  and  carving  of  every  description  the 
white  pine  is  used;  in  fact,  wherever  a  light  wood  is 
required.  Masts  are  also  made  of  it,  and  are  exported  to 
Liverpool,  though  not  fully  equal  to  those  from  Riga. 
The  bowsprits  and  spars  are  made  of  white  pine.  Rural 
Cyc.  In  Eaton's  Botany,  a  work  published  at  the  North, 
it  is  stated  that  "  perhaps  nine-tenths  of  the  boards  used  in 
America  are  of  this  species."      This,  however,  is  incorrect, 


506 

as  a  large  quantity  of  timber  is  obtained  from  our  long- 
leaved  pine. 

Pinus  glabra,  Walter's  pine.  St.  John's,  S.  C,  H.  W.  R.; 
common  spruce  pine  of  our  swamps. 

It  is  comparatively  light  and  soft,  and  might  serve  as  a 
substitute  for  northern  pine,  so  much  in  demand  for  the 
manufacture  of  the  inner  work  of  houses,  cabinets,  presses, 
cases,  etc.,  and  particularly  as  a  light  material  for  boxes  for 
the  transportation  of  merchandise.  The  poplar  is  also 
very  light  and  suitable  for  similar  purposes.  The  loblolly 
pine  (P.  taeda)  is  also  useful  for  making  tables,  presses,  etc., 
containing  little  turpentine.  A  decoction  of  the  inner 
bark  of  the  spruce  pine  acts  on  the  skin,  and  is  used  in 
rheumatism,  coughs,  colds,  etc.  It  is  also  employed  as 
a  fomentation  in  swellings  and  sprains.  Pinus  inops,  which 
I  collected  at  Reidville,  Spartanburg,  S.  C,  resembles 
somewhat  our  lower  country  spruce,  and  is  sometimes 
so  called.     It  never  attains  the  same  height. 

Pinus  tceda,  L.  Abundant  along  the  sea-coast ;  collected 
in  St.  John's  ;  grows  in  Georgia;  I^ewbern.     Fl.  April. 

Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  161 ;  IT.  S.  Disp.  709.  This  also  yields 
turpentine.  Frankincense  is  said  to  be  got  from  this 
species. 

Abies  balsamea,  )       American  silver  fir,  or  Balm 

"     balsamifera,  Mich.  /  of  Gilead  tree.      Grows  on  the 

Pinus  balsamea,  Willd.  )  summits  of  the  mountains  of 
South  Carolina.     Fl.  April. 

Griffith  Med.  Bot.  605;  U.  S.  Disp.  710.  From  this 
elegant  species  the  Canada  balsam  is  obtained ;  receiving 
this  name,  though  containing  no  benzoic  acid.  Mer.  and 
de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  v.  It  is  used  as  an  external  appli- 
cation to  wounds. 

Abies  Canadensis,  \     Hemlock  spruce.     Confined  to  the 
Pinus,  Linn.         /  highest  mountains. 


507 

Ell.  Bot.  ii,  641.  The  bark  is  valuable  for  tanning, 
though  inferior  to  that  of  the  oak. 

Abies  nigra,  Poir.  Black  spruce.  High  mountains  of 
North  Carolina  and  northward. 

The  tops  of  its  branches  yield  the  best  kinds  of  essence  of 
spruce  for  the  manufacture  of  spruce  beer.  Its  young  stems 
and  the  upper  parts  of  its  old  stems  are  light,  strong,  and 
elastic,  and  are  much  used  in  America  for  the  spars  and 
topmasts  of  ships.  Its  large  roots  and  the  lower  parts  of 
its  old  stems  are  sometimes  employed  as  substitutes  for 
oak  in  making  the  knees  and  other  bent  parts  of  ships. 
Its  timbers  are  exported  to  the  West  India  islands  and  to 
Britain  for  making  packing  boxes,  herring  barrels,  and 
other  similar  articles.  Its  resin  is  comparatively  scarce  and 
poor,  and  does  not  suffice  for  yielding  turpentine  or  Hue 
pitch.     Wilson's  R.  Cyc. 

Abies  alba,  Mx.  White  spruce.  High  mountains  of 
North  Carolina  and  northward. 

The  root  fibres  are  macerated,  stripped,  and  made  into 
cordage  by  the  North  American  Indians.      Wilson's  R. 

Cyc.  ° 

Thuja  occidentalis,  L.  American  arbor  vitse.  Confined 
to  the  mountain  districts,  along  streams ;  Fl.  May . 

U.  S.  Disp.  1301 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  609.  The  leaves 
and  twigs  have  a  balsamic  odor ;  the  decoction  was  used  in 
intermittent  fevers,  and,  according  to  Schcepf,  in  cough, 
scurvy,  and  rheumatism ;  Boerhaave  employed  the  distilled 
water  in  dropsy.  The  leaves  are  said  to  form  an  excellent 
irritating  ointment,  which  has  proved  useful  in  rheuma- 
tism ;  and  the  oil  has  been  given  with  success  as  a  vermi- 
fuge. The  wood  is  said  by  Michaux  to  be  the  most 
durable  which  our  forests  produce ;  fences  for  enclosures, 
rail  posts,  etc.,  are  made  of  it.  Said  to  be  indigenous,  and 
to  grow  abundantly  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  ;  "rocky 
banks  on  mountains  of  Carolina."      Chapman.     Prof.  L. 


508 

R.  Gibbes  expresses  to  me  his  doubts  of  its  being  found  in 
the  mountains  of  Carolina. 

"  It  makes  the  finest  ornamental  hedge  known  to  the 
climate.  It  requires  pruning  every  year,  attains  any  re- 
quired height,  and  is  very  compact  and  beautiful."  A 
writer,  B.  F.  Maurice,  of  Kings  county,  1ST.  Y.  (in  Patent 
Office  Reports,  1855,  p.  316,  see  papers  on  "live  fences"), 
states  that  he  has  hedges  from  two  to  fourteen  years 
growth,  from  one  to  ten  feet  high,  that  will  compare  favor- 
ably with  any  in  this  country  or  in  England.  It  is  easily 
and  readily  cultivated  by  la}-ers.  If  the  hedge  is  for  orna- 
ment, considerable  care  is  required  in  trimming.  A  hedge 
should  be  pruned  every  year.  See,  also,  "Wild  orange" 
(Cerasus  Caroliniana),  in  this  volume.  The  arbor  vitse,  when 
it  can  be  grown  large  enough,  as  in  Canada,  furnishes  one 
of  the  hardest  and  most  durable  of  woods,  adapted  to  all 
the  purposes  of  the  turner  and  machinist,  for  the  con- 
struction of  posts,  fences,  etc.  "Fences  made  of  it  last 
three  or  four  times  longer  than  those  constructed  of  any 
other  wood."  Wilson.  The  leaves  are  employed  like  the 
savin  (Juniperus)  in  making  a  stimulating  ointment.  If 
the  grain  is  close  and  compact  it  may  be  found  to  suit  the 
purposes  of  the  wood  engraver.  See  "  Amelanchier "  for 
wood  for  engraving.  In  Canada,  the  thin,  narrow  pieces  of 
wood  which  form  both  the  ribs  and  the  bottom  of  the  bark 
boats  are  taken  from  this  wood,  because  it  is  pliant  enough 
for  the  purpose  when  fresh,  and  also  because  *it  is  very 
light.  The  wood  is  considered  one  of  the  best  for  the 
use  of  lime-kilns.  Its  branches  are  used  in  Canada  for 
brooms,  which  leave  their  peculiar  scent  in  all  the  houses 
where  they  are  used.     Farmer's  Encyc. 

Sehubertia  of  later  Bot.  1         Bald  cypress. 

Cupressas  disticha,  L.  and  Ell.  Sk.  /  Grows  in  swamps  in 
the  lower  portion  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia ;  vicinity 
of  Charleston  ;  St.  John's. 

.     Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  Supplem.  229,  652; 
see  the  Cultivateur,  ii,  668,  for  an  article  upon  the  cypress. 


509 

Recherches  sur  l'histoire  du  Cypres,  Ann.  de  Hortic.  xv, 
37 ;  Strauss,  Mem.  sur  le  Cypres,  Montpellier,  1841 ; 
Mirbel,  Abridg:  des  Voyages,  xiii,  396;  S.  T.  Cubieres' 
Mem.  on  the  Cypress  of  Louisiana  (in  French),  Paris 
1809.  This  remarkable  tree,  lifting  its  giant  form  above 
the  others,  gives  a  striking  feature  to  our  swamps.  They 
seem  like  watch-towers  for  the  feathered  race. 

For  a  description  see  Michaux,  N".  Am.  Sylva,  Shee. 
Flora  Carol.  484.  The  seeds  are  said  to  possess  an  odorif- 
erous principle;  a  rich  balsam  of  a  deep  red,  inclining  to 
black,  is  obtained  by  boxing  the  tree,  and  from  the  nuts 
and  fruit  by  distillation.  It  is  applied  to  cuts  and  wounds, 
and  is  possessed  of  valuable  balsamic  properties ;  the  cones 
are  also  balsamic,  and  the  resin  from  them  is  diuretic  and 
carminative.  This  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  valua- 
ble timber  trees  that  we  possess.  The  wood  is  soft,  and 
rather  fine  grained,  resisting  the  action  of  weather  and  the 
changes  of  terriperature  remarkably  well ;  hence  used  for 
making  the  interior  work  of  houses,  posts,  shingles,  staves, 
etc.  Barton  mentions  that  boats  from  eight  to  twelve  feet 
diameter  and  eighty  feet  straight  shaft  are  made  out  of  a 
single  trunk.  See,  also,  Ell.  Bot.  for  a  description;  and 
also  an  elaborate  paper  in  the  April  number  of  the  Am. 
Journal  of  Science  for  1848,  by  Drs.  Dickeson  and  Brown, 
a  committee  from  Louisiana,  appointed  by  the  Association 
of  Geologists  and  Naturalists.  Cypress  leaves  boiled  dur- 
ing several  hours  afford  a  fine,  durable,  cinnamon  color. 
The  tree  should  be  felled  in  winter. 

Oupressus  tkyoides,  L.  (White  cedar.)  Said  to  grow 
around  the  savannas  in  Horry  and  Williamsburg  districts; 
Newbern. 

Ell.  Bot.  ii,  644 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  610.  The  infusion 
is  reputed  to  be  stomachic,  and  in  the  warm  state  diapho- 
retic. The  wood  is  soft,  fine  grained,  light  and  durable, 
and  is  adapted  for  purposes  similar  to  the  above.  The 
young  trees  are  easily  handled  and  transported,  and  are 


510 

particularly  suited  for  telegraph  poles.     Shingles  from  this, 
sometimes  called  juniper  shingles,  last  for  forty  years. 

Juniperus  Virginiana,  Linn.  Cedar.  Grows  in  upper 
and  lower  districts ;  jSTewbern.     Fl.  March. 

Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  iii,  49;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  ii,  184;  Fr. 
Elems.  195;  U.  S.  Disp.  413;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  iii,  698 ;  Mich.  K  Am.  Sylva,  iii,  221 ;  Am.  Journal 
Pharm.  xiv,  235;  Thacher's  Disp.  247;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst. 
Bot,  316;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  607;  Supplem.  to  the  Diet, 
de  M.  Med.  1846,  406;  Bull,  de  l'Acad.  Roy.  de  Med.  vi, 
478;  S.  Cubieres'  Mem.  on  the  Red  Cedar  of  Virginia,  in 
French,  Paris,  1805;  Nicolet's  Essai  on  the  Physiol,  and 
Chemistry  of  genus  Juniperus;  see  Journal  de  Pharm. 
xxvii,  309,  and  Bonastie's  note  on  a  volatile  oil  from  the 
Virginia  cedar,  in  Journal  de  Pharm.  xxi,  177,  1834. 

The  bark  is  employed  in  Abyssinia,  under  the  name  of 
Bisenna.  The  expressed  oil  is  very  useful  as  an  application 
to  rheumatic  pains  and  swellings  of  the  joints.  One  bushel 
of  the  dried  shavings,  heated  in  an  inverted  iron  vessel, 
will  yield  a  half-pint  of  oil.  A  decoction  of  the  berries 
promotes  diaphoresis,  and  is  also  beneficial  in  rheumatic 
pains,  stiff  joints,  etc.  It  acts  very  much  as  savin,  being 
stimulant  and  emmenagogue,  and  employed  in  catamenial 
obstructions. 

The  cedar  berry  is  used  in  a  popular  remedy  for  dropsy, 
which  is  claimed  by  some  to  be  highly  efficacious.  We  can 
readily  understand  the  reason  that  it  may  prove  useful  when 
we  remember  its  close  alliance  with  the  juniper  berry.  It 
is  as  follows :  take  one  handful  of  the  seed  of  the  cedar, 
the  same  of  mullein,  the  same  of  the  root  of  dogwood; 
put  into  two  quarts  and  a  pint  of  water,  boil  down  to  one 
quart,  and  add  one  gill  of  whiskey.  Dose,  a  wineglassful 
night  and  morning.  A  cerate  is  made  for  keeping  up  the 
irritation  and  discharge  from  blisters;  this  is  quite  ser- 
viceable, and  is  prepared  by  boiling  the  fresh  leaves  in 
twice  their  weight  of  lard,  with  the  addition  of  a  little 
wax.  The  fungoid  excrescences  on  this  tree  are  thought  to 
be  anthelmintic. 


511 

The  wood  of  this  tree  is  well  known.  It  is  sometimes 
dug  up  in  the  mud  of  our  swamps  in  a  perfect  state  of 
preservation.  It  is  aromatic,  light,  soft,  bearing  exposure, 
to  water  and  weather,  and  suitable  for  all  kinds  of  cabinet 
work,  in  the  construction  of  posts,  staves,  the  inner  work 
of  houses,  and  particularly  in  the  building  of  boats.  Cedar 
boxes  are  not  infested  by  insects,  moths,  etc.,  and  are  used 
for  storing  away  woollens.  The  leaves  also  prevent  the 
attacks  of  insects  when  spread  over  cloth. 


Class  III.      ENDOGENS,   OR   MONOCOTYLEDONS. 

MARANTACEiE.     ( The  Arrow-root  Tribe.) 

Maranta  Arundinacea.  Bermuda  arrow-root.  Cultivated 
in  South  Carolina  for  domestic  use.  » 

U.  S.  Disp.  449;  Royle,  Mat.  Med.  585;  Bell's  Pract, 
Diet.  48.  See  authors.  The  root  is  grated,  washed,  and 
then  dried  in  the  sun  on  flat  dishes. 

In  a  report  to  the  Patent  Office  by  Robert  Gamble,  of 
Florida,  published  in  volume  of  1851,  p.  326,  he  says : 

"The  Bermuda  arrow-root  flourishes  throughout  South 
Florida,  producing,  even  in  the  pine  lands,  from  200  to  300 
bushels  to  the  acre,  the  quantity  beiug  largely  increased 
when  planted  on  rich  lands.  The  yield  of  merchantable 
arrow-root  flour  obtained  by  very  imperfect  mills  is  from 
six  to  eight  pounds  to  the  bushel  —  worth  from  25  to  30 
cents  per  pound.  Along  our  Atlantic  coast  south  of  27° 
the  Cumpti,  or  Indian  arrow-root,  grows  spontaneously,  giv- 
ing results  nearly  equal  to  that  of  Bermuda,  with  the  ad- 
vantage that  it  requires  no  cultivation.  The  sole  labor 
consists  in  bringing  it  from  the  forest  lands  and  conveying 
it  to  the  mill,  the  simple  stirring  occasioned  by  the  digging 
being  sufficient  to  secure  a  better  crop  than  the  one  just 
removed.     The  Sisal  hemp  grows  readily  and  luxuriantly, 


512 

even  upon  our  pine  lands,  and  will  eventually  become  a 
valuable  staple,  but  in  the  multitude  of  others  it  is  at  pres- 
ent overlooked.  So,  also,  the  Palma  Christi,  which  be- 
comes a  tree,  and  is  perennial."  See  "Jerusalem  artichoke" 
(Cynara),  and  "Potato"  (Convolvulus),  for  substances  yield- 
iug  starch.  P.  0.  Reports  on  Agriculture,  p.  324,  1858, 
contain  a  condensation  of  a  report  before  the  Am.  Pharm. 
Assoc,  by  R.  M.  Batty,  of  Rome,  Ga.,  on  the  "Production 
and  Manufacture  of  Arrow-root  in  the  South,"  with  an  ac- 
count of  the  apparatus  used  in  rasping.  It  is  made  a  staple 
crop  by  one  or  two  gentlemen  near  St.  Mary's,  and  2,900 
pounds  of  Georgia  arrow-root  was  sold  in  Savannah  in  one 
year.  It  can  be  raised  by  any  farmer  or  planter.  "Costing 
no  actual  money  expended,  the  consumption  of  it  as  a  die- 
tetic article  is  unrestrained,  and  it  supplies  the  place  in  great 
measure  of  corn  starch,  farina,  Irish  moss,  gelatine,  and 
even  rice  and  flour,  in  the  preparation  of  delicacies  for  the 
table,  as  well  as  the  invalid's  chamber."  The  yield  of  roots 
of  all  sizes  t<*  the  acre  is  about  150  bushels.  Col.  Hallows, 
St.  Mary's,  Ga.,  has  gone  largely  into  the  field  culture,  and 
has  erected  extensive  buildings  and  machinery.  Another 
species  of  plant  grows  wild  also  in  South  Florida,  from 
which  Florida  arrow-root  is  made.  It  is  called  coonti,  and 
is  described  in  the  New  Am.  Enc.  as  a  species  of  sago 
palm-  (Zamia  integr if  olid).  A  fecula  was  formerly  prepared 
and  used  by  the  Florida  Indians  from  the  Chamcerops  ser- 
rulata,  or  saw  palmetto. 

The  cultivation  of  the  arrow-root  is  precisely  that  of  the 
sweet  potato.  A  rich,  fresh,  sandy  soil,  a  large,  full  bed, 
the  seed  (roots)  placed  six  inches  deep  and  a  foot  apart, 
careful  hoeing  and  keeping  the  bed  up,  constitute  the 
culture.  The  seed  roots  should  be  planted  as  soon  as  the 
spring  is  confirmed — with  us  (Ga.)  about  the  middle  of 
March.  The  smaller  tubers  or  roots  are  to  be  selected  for 
seed,  and  are  best  preserved  by  placing  ten  to  fifteen  bush- 
els in  a  conical  heap,  stacking  closely  around  them  a  layer 
of  corn-stalks,  and  placing  over  the  whole  a  coating  of  two 
or  three   inches  of   earth.      The  object  is  to  keep  up  a 


513 

uniform  temperature,  and  to  avoid  dampness  and  the 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold.  The  plants  are  allowed  to 
grow  until  the  leaves  and  stems  are  slightly  affected  by  the 
frost,  the  roots  are  then  to  be  dug  as  potatoes,  the  larger 
selected  for  manufacture  and  the  smaller  for  seed.  Those 
intended  for  manufacture  are  to  be  stacked  in  heaps  of 
twenty  to  twenty-five  bushels  in  the  same  way  as  directed 
for  the  seed  roots.  They  must  be  carefully  protected  from 
cold,  as  the  fecula  is  changed  by  freezing. 

The  following  is  the  mode  of  manufacturing  for  family 
use:  the  roots  are  washed,  the  scales  on  the  outside  re- 
moved by  hand  with  a  knife,  and  then  again  washed  and 
placed  in  a  tub  of  pure  water.  The  next  operation  is  to 
rasp  down  the  roots  by  pressing  them  endwise  against  the 
circumference  of  the  rasping  machine.  (P.  0.  Reports, 
1858,  see  plate  vi.)  This  machine  consists  of  two  wooden 
discs,  framed  as  large  pulleys,  about  three  and  a  half  feet  in 
diameter,  placed  six  inches  apart  and  covered  with  strong 
tinned  iron,  punched  from  within  like  a  coarse  nutmeg 
grater.  It  revolves  around  a  central  axis  of  wood  with  as 
great  a  velocity  as  can  be  given  without  throwing  off  the 
water  from  its  circumference.  A  large  trough  is  placed 
under  the  wheel,  which  is  kept  nearly  full  of  water,  the 
wheel  dipping  into  the  trough  about  six  inches.  As  the 
wheel  revolves  the  grated  pulp  is  washed  off  into  the 
trough,  and  when  it  becomes  too  thick  the  mass  is  passed 
into  a  largie  tub  and  the  trough  refilled  with  fresh  water. 
The  pulp  collected  in  the  tub  is  then  pressed  by  hand  until 
the  fecula  is  separated  from  the  fibre,  and  after  removing 
the  latter  the  fecula  is  allowed  to  settle  to  the  bottom. 
The  next  and  most  important  operation  is  to  pour  off  the 
water  from  the  sediment,  and  when  the  latter  has  become 
pretty  firm,  to  break  it  carefully  into  cakes  and  with  a  large 
knife  blade  to  remove  from  the  bottom  all  sand  and  other 
impurities.  The  cleansed  portion  is  then  to  be  resuspend- 
ed  in  a  tub  of  pure  water,  allowed  again  to  settle,  again 
dried  and  cleansed.  This  operation  must  be  repeated  until 
the  fecula  settles  in  a  perfectly  white  and  clean  cake.  On 
33 


514 

the  careful  performance  of  this  part  of  the  manufacture 
depends  the  excellence  of  the  article.  The  cakes  are  next 
to  be  broken  up  and  placed  upon  cotton  cloth  stretchers 
until  thoroughly  dry  and  pulverulent,  when  the  powder 
should  be  firmly  packed  in  boxes  or  barrels.  Air-drying 
in  the  shade  is  preferable  to  sun-drying,  and  dust  must  be 
sedulously  avoided.  Whatever  the  scale  of  manufacture 
and  the  machinery  used,  the  essential  points  are :  1st, 
maturity  of  the  roots;  2d,  cleansing  the  roots  before  rasp- 
ing; 3d,  rasping  so  as  completely  to  separate  the  fecula 
from  the  fibre ;  4th,  separating  the  fecula  from  sand  and 
all  other  impurities  by  frequent  agitation  and  subsidence ; 
5th,  thorough  and  careful  drying  to  avoid  mustiness  or 
mildew ;  6th,  packing  so  as  effectually  to  exclude  the  air. 
The  principle  of  separating  fecula  being  the  same,  any 
labor-saving  machinery  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  po- 
tato starch  may  be  applied  to  arrow-root.  On  a  large 
scale  there  would  be  great  economy  in  driving  several  rasp- 
ing machines  by  an  engine,  agitating  the  feculent  mass 
from  the  rasper  in  large  vats,  filtering  through  cloths,  dry- 
ing by  hot  air  in  large  buildings  furnished  with  cloth 
stretchers,  etc.  Tinned  iron  is  used  for  the  rasping  part  of 
the  mill,  and  wooden  vessels  for  washing  and  precipitation. 
The  reader  will  consult  the  article  cited  for  the  best  mode 
of  cultivation.  The  writer  quotes  from  Mr.  Hamilton 
Cooper  or  Col.  Hallowes,  I  believe,  as  follows :  "  There  is 
no  secret  in  making  arrow-root.  The  great  requisition, 
after  the  roots  have  been  well  washed  and  reduced  to  a 
fine  pulp,  is  an  abundance  of  water  together  with  great 
cleanliness,  and  until  the  hands  are  well  trained,  the  con- 
stant vigilance  of  the  master.  The  latter  is  more  or  less 
necessary  at  all  times.  The  pulp  is  passed  at  one  opera- 
tion through  three  sets  of  sieves  of  different  degrees  of 
fineness,  put  into  motion  by  machinery,  and  using  an 
abundance  of  water.  As  it  is  strained  the  fluid  runs  into 
vats,  where  it  is  allowed  to  settle,  water  drawn  ofi'  and 
fresh  water  added,  stirring  up  the  sediment  thoroughly. 
This   process  is  repeated  a  second  time,   and  it   is  then 


515 

strained  through  sieves  of  the  finest  bolting  cloth,  again 
washed  with  successive  portions  of  water,  allowed  to  settle 
in  tubs,  water  decanted,  and  the  tubs  removed  to  the  dry- 
ing house,  where  the  fecula,  when  settled  into  a  solid  mass, 
is  broken  up  and  placed  on  frames  of  convenient  size, 
covered  with  cotton  shirting,  which  are  carried  into  the 
drying  room,  heated  artificially,  and  allowed  to  remain 
eighteen  to  twenty-four  hours,  taken  out,  allowed  to  cool, 
and  put  into  bins  ready  for  packing.  I  use  boxes  contain- 
ing about  one  hundred  pounds  each.  In  the  course  of  the 
process  of  the  manufacture  I  have  attempted  to  describe 
three  thousaud  gallons  of  water  are  used  daily,  all  of  which 
is  furnished  by  a  well  of  the  purest  water,  not  exceeding 
twelve  feet  in  depth.  The  use  of  tank  water,  it  is  thought, 
may  be  the  cause  of  the  pearly  appearance  of  Bermuda 
arrow-root,  or  the  greater  maturity  of  the  plant.  lire 
says  it  requires  eleven  months  to  mature  in  the  island  of 
St.  Vincent."  "What  is  called  Portland  sago  is  made  from 
the  Arum  maculatam ;  we  have  two  species  in  the  Confeder- 
ate States.     See  "Arum,"  in  this  volume. 

I  have  seen  the  plant  cultivated  and  the  arrow-root  pre- 
pared on  the  plantations  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  S.  C.  The 
great  value  of  arrow-root  as  an  article  of  food  for  the 
sick  and  convalescent,  and  its  consequent  great  utility  to 
our  armies  in  the  field,  make  it  particularly  desirable  that 
its  culture  should  be  extended  at  this  time.  I  therefore 
introduce  the  following  directions  by  the  late  Governor 
Seabrook  of  South  Carolina.  The  method  of  culture  is 
simple,  and  is  as  follows  :  upon  a  piece  of  ground  moder- 
ately high,  and  of  a  loose  soil,  make  small  beds  three  feet 
asunder,  and  at  the  distance  of  every  two  feet  drop  one 
seed,  which  should  be  covered  about  two  inches  deep. 
The  middle  of  March  is  the  proper  season  for  planting, 
and  no  care  or  attention  is  subsequently  required  but  to 
keep  the  plants  free  from  grass  and  weeds.  After  the  first 
frost  they  should  be  dug,  and  when  you  have  selected  the 
seed  it  is  necessary  for  their  preservation  that  they  should 
be  buried  at  least  one  foot  in  some  dry  and  warm  spot. 


516 

The  preparation  of  the  root  for  food  is  tedious,  and  in  eon- 
sequence  of  the  toughness  of  the  outer  coat  it  would  be 
advisable  to  perform  the  operation  as  speedily  as  possible 
after  digging.  As  soon  as  this  is  effected,  grate  the  roots 
in  a  clean  vessel  of  water,  then  pass  the  contents  thereof 
through  a  sieve ;  this  must  be  repeated,  taking  care  to 
change  the  water  at  every  successive  operation  so  long  as 
any  coarse  particles  remain  in  the  sieve.  The  water  is 
then  allowed  to  settle,  and  if  it  exhibits  a  clear  and  natural 
appearance  the  sediment  is  in  a  fit  state  to  be  be  dried, 
which  should  be  done,  if  possible,  in  the  sun,  and  in  a 
confined  situation,  where  no  dust  can  reach  it.  To  a  table- 
spoonful  thus  prepared  pour  on  a  pint  of  boiling  water, 
stirring  it  at  the  same  time  briskly,  to  which  add  a  little 
sugar  and  nutmeg,  and  you  will  then  have  a  jelly  pleasant 
as  it  is  healthful.     Boiled  with  milk  it  is  excellent. 

When  starch  is  obtained  from  any  other  plant  than  one 
of  the  grains,  as  from  potatoes,  corn,  flag,  bryony,  horse- 
chestnut,  wild  orchis,  dogbane,  burdock,  iris,  heubane, 
patience,  ranunculus,  etc.,  it  is  known  by  the  name  of 
fecula.  Chaptal  describes  two  processes  for  extracting 
starch,  by  washing  with  cold  water  and  by  fermentation, 
the  latter  being  more  efficient: 

When  starch  is  to  be  extracted  by  cold  water,  the  sub- 
stance must  either  be  reduced  to  the  state  of  flour  or  be 
broken  so  that  the  pulp  can  be  acted  upon  by  the  water. 
In  the  first  place  the  flour  of  wheat  is  kneaded  with  water 
till  it  takes  the  consistency  of  a  stiff  paste;  this  is  placed  on 
a  cloth  stretched  tightly  over  a  tub  and  cold  water  thrown 
upon  it;  the  kneading  with  the  hand  is  continued  till  the 
water  runs  off*  clear ;  the  fecula  is  carried  off"  by  the  water 
and  deposited  at  the  bottom  of  the  tubs;  the  wafer  retains 
in  solution  the  sugar  and  the  extractive  matter  of  the 
farina,  while  the  insoluble  gluten  alone  remains  upon  the 
filter ;  the  deposit  is  washed  to  free  it  from  any  foreign 
substance,  and  then  dried.  When  it  is  not  wished  that  the 
substance  containing  the  fecula  should  be  reduced  to  flour, 
it  may  be  broken  in  a  mortar  or  under  a  millstone,  or  it 


SI? 

may  be  grated;  the  pulp  is  then  to  be  placed  upon  a  very 
fine  horse-hair  sieve  and  water  thrown  upon  it  till  it  runs 
off  clear,  care  being  taken  to  stir  the  pulp  constantly  with 
the  hand  and  to  squeeze  it  hard.  When  the  substance 
from  which  the  fecula  is  to  be  extracted  is  fleshy  and  of  a 
loose,  spongy  texture,  it  can  be  reduced  to  a  pulp  by 
means  of  a  press ;  the  juice  thus  expressed  deposits  the 
fecula,  which  must  be  carefully  washed  in  order  that  the 
noxious  principles  contained  in  it  may  be  perfectly  sepa- 
rated. The  whiteness  and  excellence  of  the  fecula  depends 
upon  its  being  thoroughly  washed. 

Fermentation  is  the  means  most  commonly  employed  for 
extracting  starch  from  grain,  but  this  operation  will  pro- 
duce only  alcohol  if  care  be  not  taken  in  mixing  the  acid 
with  the  grain  to  prevent  the  spirituous  fermentation. 
This  acid  is  made  by  mixing  with  a  bucket  of  hot  water 
wvo  pounds  of  baker's  yeast,  to  which  is  added  two  days 
after  several  buckets  of  hot  water ;  in  forty-eight  hours 
from  that  time  the  acid  will  be  sufficiently  developed. 
This  acid,  which  is  called  by  the  starch  manufacturers  sure 
water,  is  thrown  into  a  hogshead  having  one  end  taken  out. 
The  hogshead  is  then  filled  half-full  of  common  water,  into 
which  flour  is  stirred  till  it  is  full ;  the  whole  is  then  left 
to  macerate  during  ten  days  in  summer  and  fourteen  in 
winter.  The  sufficiently  advanced  state  of  the  maceration 
may  be  known  by  a  deposit  being  formed  and  the  liquor 
above  it  remaining  clear,  while  the  surface  is  covered  with 
foam  or  fat  water.  The  water  and  foam  are  drawn  off,  and 
the  deposit  is  thrown  into  a  sack  of  haircloth,  which  is 
placed  in  a  tub  and  water  thrown  over  it  till  it  runs  off 
without  any  cloudiness.  The  substance  remaining  in  the 
bag,  which  is  only  the  coarsest  part,  serves  as  food  for 
cattle.  At  the  end  of  two  or  three  days  the  water  floating 
above  the  deposit  formed  in  the  tub  is  drawn  off,  and  a 
part  of  it  preserved  to  serve  as  sure  water  for  succeeding 
operations. 

In  order  to  have  good  starch,  the  water  must  be  washed 
in  a  great  deal  of  water  and  well    mixed ;    two  or  three 


518 

days  after  the  water  for  the  remaining  washings  may  be 
thrown  on.  The  deposit  which  forms  presents  three  layers, 
differing  widely  in  their  quality ;  the  first  is  principally 
composed  of  fragments,  and  is  taken  oft'  as  food  for  cattle 
or  to  fatten  hogs  with.  The  second  layer  is  generally 
formed  of  the  mealy  part  of  the  vegetable  mixed  with 
some  other  substances ;  the  product  of  this  layer  is  known 
under  the  name  of  common  starch.  The  third  layer  con- 
tains the  purest  and  heaviest  starch,  but  in  order  to  give  it 
all  the  qualities  it  ought  to  possess  it  must  be  washed  with 
water,  and  the  water  afterward  separated  from  it  by  filtra- 
tion through  a  sieve  of  silk,  so  as  to  free  it  from  all  impu- 
rities. "With  these  precautions  starch  may  be  obtained 
fitted  for  any  use.  As  soon  as  the  starch  has  been  well 
washed  it  is  put  into  baskets  lined  with  linen  to  be  well 
drained.  It  is  afterward  divided  into  loaves,  and  the  dry- 
ing finished  by  exposing  it. in  the  open  air  upon  laths. 
Before  packing  for  sale,  the  surface  of  the  loaves,  which  is 
slightly  colored,  is  scraped,  and  the  drying  of  them  is  com- 
pleted in  the  sun  or  in  a  stove.  Starch  acted  upon  by  sul- 
phuric acid  is  converted  into  sugar,  and  in  this  state  may 
be  made  to  undergo  the  vinous  fermentation ;  a  few  years 
since  extensive  establishments  were  formed  in  France  for 
supplying  numerous  distilleries  with  the  fecula  of  the 
potato  which  had  been  treated  in  this  manner. 

Amarillidace^:.     (The  Narcissus  Tribe.) 

Some  of  these  are  poisonous,  and  Lindley  says  that  it  is 
one  of  the  few  of  the  monocotyledonous  orders  in  which 
any  poisonous  properties  are  found. 

Agave  Sisalana.     Sisal  hemp. 

This  gigantic  plant  has  been  introduced  into  Florida  by 
Dr.  Henry  Perriue,  who  was  consul  at  Yucatan.  It  is  said 
by  W.  C.  Dennis,  of  Key  West  (P.  O.  Reports,  1855,  p. 
243),  to  delight  in  arid,  rocky  land,  which  contains  a  super- 
abundance of  lime.  It  is  adapted  probably  only  to  the 
south  of  Florida,  where  it  can  be  cultivated  during  the 


519 

absence  of  frost.  It  does  not  require  a  great  deal  of  cult- 
ure, but  grows  on  arid,  rocky  soil  around  Key  "West  unfit- 
ted for  any  other  purpose.  "In  fact,  the  land  on  these 
keys  and  much  of  it  on  the  southern  point  of  the  penin- 
sula is  nearly  worthless  for  every  other  agricultural  pur- 
pose, so  far  as  known,  yet  there  are  thousands  of  acres  in 
this  region  where  a  ton  of  clean  Sisal  hemp  can  be  made 
to  the  acre  yearly,  after  the  plant  has  arrived  at  such  an 
advanced  state  of  maturity  as  will  allow  the  lower  leaves 
to  be  cut  from  it,  which  takes  in  this  climate  from  three 
to  five  years  to  grow,  according  to  the  goodness  of  the 
soil.  Nor  is  there  any  longer  a  doubt  as  to  the  good- 
ness of  the  fibre,  a  number  of  tons  having  already  been 
collected  and  sent  to  market,  where  it  readily  brought 
within  a  half  cent  to  a  cent  per  pound  as  much  as  the  best 
kind  of  Manilla  hemp ;  that  is,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  ton."  See  article  cited 
for  method  of  planting  and  preparing.  "  About  a  thou- 
sand plants  should  be  set  on  an  acre,  and  from  young  ones 
coming  up  from  the  long  lateral  roots ;  if  these  be  kept  at 
proper  distances  it  will  be  seen  that  the  same  land  requires 
no  replanting  if  coarse  vegetable  manure  be  applied  from 
time  to  time.  After  the  plant  is  of  sufficient  growth  the 
lower  leaves  are  cut  off"  at  proper  times,  leaving  enough  on 
the  top  to  keep  it  healthy.  These  leaves  are  composed  of 
a  soft,  watery  pulp,  and  are  from  two  to  six  feet  long,  and 
in  the  middle  from  four  to  six  inches  wide,  being  frequent- 
ly three  inches  thick  at  the  but,  but  having  the  general 
shape  of  the  head  of  a  lance.  They  contain  a  gum,  which 
is  the  chief  cause  of  their  being  rather  troublesome  in 
separating  the  fibres  from  the  pulp.  Neither  the  epidermis 
nor  this  pulp  is  more  than  a  powder  after  becoming  dry  if 
the  gum-  be  entirely  crushed  and  washed  out." 

This  is  a  most  important  fact  in  relation  to  the  mauner 
to  be  adopted  to  cleanse  the  fibres  from  the  pulp.  As 
these  are  continuous,  and  parallel,  and  imbedded  in  it,  I  feel 
certain  that  a  system  of  passing  the  leaves  through  a  series 
of  heavy  iron  rollers  firmly  set,  something  after  those  used 


520 

in  crushing  sugar-cane,  and  throwing  water  on  the  crushed 
leaves,  in  jets  or  otherwise,  in  sufficient  quantities  to  wash 
out  the  gum  (which  is  perfectly  soluble  in  it),  will  thor- 
oughly clean  out  the  fibres,  without  any  loss,  so  that  after 
they  are  dry,  and  have  been  beaten  to  get  out  the  dust,  they 
will  be  fit  for  market;  at  any  rate,  the  right  plan  for  sepa- 
rating the  fibres  has  not  yet  been  discovered,  although 
there  has  been  enough  done  at  it  to  show  that  they  can  be 
got  at  a  profit. 

I  obtain  the  following  statements  from  the  Patent  Office 
Reports,  1856,  p.  252,  by  W.  C.  Dennis:  "The  plant  evi- 
dently requires  dry,  hot  weather,  as  well  as  a  dry  soil;  for 
since  I  have  observed  its  growth  I  have  never  seen  it  suffer 
from  drought  in  the  driest  and  hottest  weather  and  in  the 
most  arid  spots,  provided  its  roots  could  find  a  plenty  of 
the  right  kind  of  soil.  The  meteorological  record  for  the 
last  twenty-five  years  shows  that  this  plant  is  well  adapted 
to  these  keys  and  the  southern  extremity  of  the  peninsula, 
for  such  winters  as  the  two  designated  are  evidently  rare. 

"It  would  seem  that  there  are  lands  enough  in  Florida, 
south  of  the  limit  where  the  frost  would  injure  this  plant, 
to  grow  it  in  sufficient  quantities  for  the  present  and  pros- 
pective wants  of  the  country,  and  that,  too,  in  a  frontier 
region  which  it  is  of  national  importance  to  settle.  As  far 
as  known,  these  lands  are  not  well  adapted  to  an  extended 
range  of  agricultural  products,  yet  I  am  certain  that  the 
tropical  agaves  in  all  their  varieties  will  flourish  here  in 
the  greatest  perfection. 

"Mr.  Hermonds,  of  Indian  river,  Florida,  says  that  Sisal 
hemp  grows  well  there,  and  has  contiuued  to  thrive  well 
for  years.  He  thinks  that  my  last  year's  estimate  of  the 
product  per  acre  is  too  low  for  that  region.  The  experi- 
ments I  have  made  within  the  past  year  in  getting  out  a 
number  of  tons  of  this  fibre  convince  me  there  are  but  few 
difficulties  in  accomplishing  this  work  cheaply.  These 
experiments  prove  that  if  all  the  vesicles  of  the  leaves  are 
ruptured  by  crushing  or  rolling,  the  pulp  and  gum  are 
easily  washed  out  either  by  salt  water  or  fresh.     The  plan 


521 

which  I  found  most  successful  was  to  roll  the  leaves,  being 
careful  to  rupture  all  the  vessels,  then  confine  these  crushed 
leaves  in  an  open-work  wooden  frame  or  box,  which  I 
placed  in  such  a  manner  that  the  tides  forced  the  sea-water 
through  them  both  at  the  ebb  and  flow.  In  this  manner 
the  gum  and  pulp  were  so  far  washed  out  in  from  three  to 
six  days  (according  to  the  temperature  of  the  air  and  water) 
that  by  beating  the  fibres  a  little  after  they  were  dry  they 
were  fit  for  market.* 

"Mr.  Hermonds  mentioned  as  a  tested  fact  that  steeping 
the  crushed  leaves  in  boiling  water,  even  for  a  few  minutes, 
at  once  dissolved  the  gum  and  cleaned  the  fibre.  This 
renders  it  almost  certain  that  where  a  steam-engine  is  used 
to  propel  rollers  and  crush  the  leaves  the  waste  steam  can 
be  rendered  effective  to  clean  this  hemp  by  blowing  it  off 
between  the  rollers,  aided  by  a  little  water  in  a  jet,  while 
the  leaves  are  passing  through. 

"The  amount  of  the  imports  and  consumption  in  this 
country  of  fibres  similar  to  Sisal  hemp  in  1854  was  over 
$2,500,000,  of  which  more  than  $1,500,000  was  for  Manilla 
and  Indian  hemps,  and  over  $1,000,000  for  gunny  bags  and 
cloth,  jutes,  etc. 

"I  am  of  opinion  that  this  hemp  can  be  cleaned,  and 
cheaply,  by  running  the  leaves  through  a  series  of  powerful 
rollers,  having  water  dashed  on  them  during  the  operation  ; 
and  this  plan  would  be  much  facilitated  in  this  region 
from  the  fact  that  the  gum  of  the  leaves  seems  equally 
soluble  in  salt  water  as  in  fresh.  But  experiment  must 
decide  which  of  the  methods  would  be  the  best.  Care 
must  be  taken  not  to  allow  the  leaves  or  fibres  to  come  in 
contact  with  the  mud  or  other  substances  which  will  stain 
them  while  they  are  in  a  damp  state;  and  it  will  be  well  to 
have  them  in  the  sun,  or  strong  light,  while  under  the  proc- 
ess of  cleaning  and  drying;  for  the  juice  of  the  plant  is 
both  a  saponaceous  and  a  bleaching  fluid. 

"Last  year  I  spoke  of  the  fact  that  the  celebrated  pulque 

*  Would  not  this  method  be  objectionable  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  drying 
the  fibre  or  the  materials  manufactured  therefrom?  1>.  .t.  b. 


Jt 


522 

plant  [Agave  pulque)  was  introduced  by  Dr.  Perrine.  It 
grows  enormously  large  here  where  there  is  sufficient  depth 
of  soil,  and  although  I  presume  that  the  mean  temperature 
is  too  high  to  make  from  it  the  Mexican  drink,  yet  alcohol 
could  be  distilled  from  its  juice,  and  probably  the  leaf  can 
be  made  to  yield  a  cheap  and  abundant  material  for  paper. 
The  ancient  Aztec  made  much  of  the  paper  on  which  his 
picture-writing  was  transcribed  out  of  the  leaves  of  one  or 
more  of  the  varieties  of  the  agave;  and  this  pulque  plant 
most  likely  is  one  of  the  kinds;  for  its  thick,  fleshy  leaves, 
containing  very  fine  fibres,  are  sometimes  eight  feet  long 
and  from  seven  to  eight  inches  broad." 

Agave  Vir g mica,  L.  Called  by  negroes  rattlesnake's  mas- 
ter. Grows  in  damp  soils;  collected  in  Wassamasaw,  St. 
John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston. 

Ell.  Bot.  i,  402.  A  domestic  remedy  for  flatulent  colic; 
used  in  Charleston  district  for  the  bite  of  the  rattlesnake. 

Amaryllis  atamasco,  L.  Atamasco  lily.  Grows  in  damp 
soils;  collected  in  St,  John's,  Berkley;  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton. 

Ell.  Bot.  i,  884.  This  is  supposed  to  produce  the  dis- 
ease in  cattle  called  "staggers." 

Pancratium  maritimum,  Walt.  I  "  Seen  by  Catesby  in  the 
"  Carolinianmn,  L.   j    Parachucla  savanna,    St. 

Peter's  parish,"  Ell.;  collected  on  Cooper  river,  St.  John's, 
Berkley. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  v,  179 ;  Dioscorides, 
lib.  ii,  c.  168.  Pliny  also  speaks  of  it,  lib.  xvii,  c.  12.  The 
bulbs  are  bitter  and  emetic,  and  are  useful  in  dropsy. 
Loiseleur,  Manuel  des  Plantes  Indigenes,  19.  In  the  expe- 
rience of  one  writer  forty  grains  of  the  powder  produced 
vomiting  five  times. 

ILemodoracejE.     ( The  Blood-root  Tribe.) 

Bilatris  tvnetoria,  Ph.  1      Newbeni.  Florida. 

Lachnanthes,  Ell.  Sk.  J 

Griffith,   Med.  Bot.   622.      The  root  is  astringent   and 


523 

tonic.      It  is  distinguished,   says   Wilson,   for  yielding  a 
beautiful  dye;  hence  the  name.     Rur.  Cyc. 

Burmanmace^e. 

Tripterella  ccerulia,  L.  Blue  tripterella.  Grows  near  Sa- 
vannah and  Purysberg ;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley, 
near  Pinopolis ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  ISTov. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  331 ;  Nuttall,  in  Acta,  Philacl.  723. 
A  flavor  like  that  of  green  tea  is  discernible  in  this  plant. 

Iridace^i.     (The  Corn-flag  Tribe.) 

Iris  versicolor,  L.  Var.  a  and  b.  Blue  flag.  Grows  in 
bogs,  morasses,  and  inundated  land;  collected  in  St.  John's ; 
vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  354 ;  Lind.  ISTat.  Syst.  Bot.  333 ;  U.  S. 
Disp.  405 ;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Botv  105 ;  Bartram's  Travels, 
451 ;  Cutler's  Mem.  Am.  Acad.  405,  6 ;  Ell.  Bot.  146 ;  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  iii,  659;  Frost's  Elems.  279. 

The  expressed  juice  is  acrid,  and  has  been  employed  as  a 
local  application ;  it  is  also  purgative,  and  sometimes  occa- 
sions distressing  nausea  like  sea-sickness,  accompanied  with 
prostration  of  strength.  The  plant  is,  however,  more  re- 
markable for  its  diuretic  powers.  It  was  prescribed  by  Dr. 
McBride  with  great  success  in  dropsy,  combining  it  with 
the  button  snakeroot  (Eryngium  yuccifolium).  The  propor- 
tions are  as  follows :  root  of  blue  flag  one  ounce ;  button 
snakeroot  two  drachms ;  water  half  a  pound ;  which  is  to  be 
boiled  down  to  one  pint  and  taken  in  divided  doses.  See 
Bigelow.  This  does  not  disturb  the  stomach,  and  was  used 
with  success  in  cases  of  hydrothorax  conibined  with  an- 
asarca. Bartram  said  the  root  was  considered  by  the 
Indians  a  very  powerful  cathartic,  and  it  was  found  in  arti- 
ficial ponds  made  for  the  purpose  near  their  villages.  See 
his  Voyage  dans  la  partie  sud  de  l'Amerique  Septentri- 
onale,  ii,  322,  and  the  Supplem.  to  Mer.  and  de  L.  1846. 
According  to  Bigelow  its  active  chemical  constituent  seems 
to  be  a  resin,  which  separates  as  a  white  precipitate  when 


524 

water  is  added  to  the  alcoholic  tincture.  The  plant  is 
much  employed  in  domestic  practice  in  St.  John's,  Berkley, 
in  dropsy. 

Iris  Virginica. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  625.  It  is  said  to  possess  properties 
similar  to  those  of  the  I.  versicolor. 

Bromeliace^e.     (The  Pineapple  Tribe.) 

TiUandsia  usneoides,  Linn.  Long  moss.  Grows  within  the 
tertiary  districts  of  South  Carolina  ;  I  have  observed  it  as 
high  up  as  Columbia ;  j^ewbern. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  748 ;  Journal  de 
Pharmacien,  iii,  185.  It  is  stomachic,  purgative,  and  even 
diuretic.  Employed  in  hemorrhoids.  Op.  cit.  I  see  no  no- 
tice of  it  in  the  American  works.  Great  use  is  made  in 
South  Carolina  of  this  plant  when  dried  in  stuffing  chair 
cushions,  mattresses,  etc.  It  gives  to  the  trees  in  winter 
quite  a  venerable  and  pleasing  aspect,  and  is  an  indication 
of  great  moisture. 

Orchidace^:.     ( The  Orchis  Tibe.) 

Some  species  of  orchis  are  said  to  possess  aphrodisiac 
properties.  The  roots  when  boiled  are  farinaceous  and  eat- 
able, furnishing  an  article  of  food.  Attention  is  invited  to 
those  growing  in  the  Confederate  States,  among  which  are 
several  beautiful  species. 

Bletia  verecunda,  IS.  Elliott  is  doubtful  whether  it  grows 
in  South  Carolina.  Mich,  cultivated  it  near  Charleston. 
Fl.  Aug. 

Lind.  Xat.  Syst.  Bot.  239.  The  cormus  is  said  to  be 
stomachic  and  tonic:  see  Browne's  Jamaica. 

Bletia  aphylla.     Xutt. 

The  tuberous  root,  as  well  as  the  whole  plant,  contains  a 
great  deal  of  gum  and  starch.  It  has  a  gummy  taste,  and 
is  closely  related  with  Aplectrum  hiemale  (Corallorrhiza  of 


525 

Ell.),  which  has  the  name  putty-root,  probably  from  the 
same  property  of  gummmess  and  adhesiveness.  The 
granules  of  the  tirst  named  can  be  seen  with  the  micro- 
scope. I  have  ascertained  that  it  forms  an  excellent  gum 
in  place  of  Spalding's  glue  or  gum-arabic.  Paper  united 
by  means  of  it  tears  before  it  will  separate.  It  should 
be  well  broken  up  in  a  little  water. 

Gypripedium pnbesce?is,  W.  Yellow  lady's  slipper;  yellow 
moccason.     l^ewbern. 

Griffith,  Med.  B'ot.  640.  It  is  employed  by  the  Indians, 
and  held  in  high  estimation  in  domestic  practice  as  a 
sedative  and  antispasmodic,  acting  like  valerian  in  alle- 
viating nervous  symptoms ;  said  to  have  proved  useful 
in  hysteria,  and  even  in  chorea.  A  teaspoonful  of  the 
powder  is  taken  at  a  dose.  Op.  cit,  and  Raf.  Med.  Fl.  140. 
More  use  might  be  made  of  this  tea  as  a  cpiieting  agent  in 
place  of  paregoric;  see  "Tilia." 

PALMACEiE.     (The  Palm  Tribe.) 

Chamcerops  serrulata,  L.  Saw  palmetto.  Grows  on  the 
coast  of  South  Carolina,  and  at  Blythe's  island,  in  Georgia. 
Mr.  Elliott  says  that  it  extends  also  through  the  pine  lands 
of  that  state. 

Shec.  Fl.  Carol.  435.  The  pulp  is  very  sweet,  but  is  pos- 
sessed of  a  purgative  property,  often  producing  a  copious 
evacuation  attended  with  griping. 

A  correspondent,  "F.  I.  S,"  of  Charleston  "Mercury," 
from  Waresboro,  Ga.,  writes  as  follows  in  adding  to  our 
"resources: " 

"You  speak  of  black  moss  for  mattresses.  Our  common 
saw  palmetto  leaves,  when  split  into  shreds  with  a  fork  or 
hackle,  boiled,  and  dried  in  the  sun  one  or  two  days,  make 
a  light,  clean,  healthy,  and  durable  mattress.  Let  me  sug- 
gest that  palmetto  pillows  would  be  cheap  and  comfortable 
for  our  soldiers  on  the  coast ;  their  corn  and  flour  sacks 
would  in  the  absence  of  anything  better  furnish  ready- 
made  pillow  ticks.     Our  negroes  are  busily  employed  in 


526 

making  light,  durable,  and  handsome  palmetto  hats  for  our 
soldiers — quite  a  protection  from  the  sun's  burning  rays  in 
the  heavy  drills  of  this  and  the  next  two  months.  A  bed 
made  from  a  downy  swamp  plant,  which  our  people  call 
cat's  tail,  took  a  premium  at  the  late  Agricultural  Fair  in 
Carolina. 

Chamcerops  palmetto,  Mich.  )      Tall    palmetto.     Cabbage 

Corypha  palmetto,  "Walter.  /  tree.  Grows  along  the  sea- 
coast;  vicinity  of  Charleston. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  432. 

From  this  noble  and  characteristic  tree  is  derived  the 
well  known  armorial  emblem  on  the  escutcheon  of  the 
State  of  South  Carolina.  It  scarcely  needs  any  description 
at  my  hands.  It  has  been  carried  in  the  fore-front  of  bat- 
tle by  every  regiment  in  the  service  of  the  state  from 
Mexico  to  Manassas.  The  leaves  are  employed  in  the 
manufacture  of  hats,  baskets,  mats,  etc.  Forts,  wharves, 
conduits,  and  structures  under  water  are  made  of  the  logs, 
which  do  not  splinter.  The  cabbage,  or  expanded  embryo, 
may  be  classed  among  the  "  most  delicious  vegetables  pro- 
duced for  our  tables."  The  tree,  however,  perishes  when 
deprived  of  these.  State  enactments  should  forbid  their 
destruction,  for  ere  long  when  the  supply  is  exhausted  the 
tree  will  still  be  absolutely  required.  Griffith  says  (Med. 
Bot.  614)  that  the  bark  contains  taunin. 

Pieces  of  the  spongy  part  of  the  stem  afford  a  very  good 
substitute  for  scrubbing  brushes,  and  are  much  used  in 
Carolina  and  Georgia.  The  leaves  of  the  smaller  species 
afford  excellent  and  durable  thatch  for  covering  barns  and 
outhouses ;  and  the  younger  leaves  of  the  cabbage  tree  are 
manufactured  into  beautiful  light  and  durable  hats.  Since 
the  war  (1862)  the  tree  has  been  highly  useful  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  repent  caudex  of  the  saw  palmetto  (Farmer's 
Encyc),  being  torn  from  the  surface  of  the  earth,  cut  into 
proper  lengths,  dried,  and  burned  to  ashes,  produces  the 
greatest  quantity  of  potash  of  any  known  vegetable.  The 
drupes,  or  large  berries  of  this  species,  which  are  of  the 


527 

size  and  figure  of  dates,  and  as  sweet,  afford  good  and 
nourishing  food  to  the  Indians  and  hunters.  Thej  are  not 
palatable  to  white  people  till  they  become  accustomed  to 
them.      Op.  cit. 

Sabal  adansonii,  Guerns.  V  Dwarf'  palmetto.  Swamps  in 
"    pumila,~E\l.  flower  districts. 

Excellent  fans  may  be  made  of  the  leaves.  The  "  bane 
and  antidote  "  are  both  present  in  abundance  in  the  same 
locality — mosquitoes  and  the  palm-like  leaves  of  the  dwarf 
palmetto ! 

Melanthacb^.     (The  Colchicum  Tribe.) 
"Poisonous  in  every  species." 

Melanthium  Virginicurh,  "W.     Grows  in  wet  soils. 

Griffith,  Med.  641.  In  infusion  it  is  an  effectual  anthel- 
mintic. It  will  operate  as  an  active  poison.  The  decoc- 
tion, used  as  a  wash,  is  a  certain  but  somewhat  dangerous 
cure  for  the  itch. 

Chamcelirium  Carolinianum,  Willd.     (K'th's  En.  PL' 

Iielonias  dioica,  Ph.  and  Ell.  Sk. 

Common  blazing  star.  Grows  in  damp  pine  barrens  ; 
collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  Charleston  district,  near 
Pinopolis  ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  ISTewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Lind.  Hat.  Syst.  348;  Ell.  Bot.  i,  423;  De  Cand.  and 
Dubug.  472,  an.  1828;  Matson's  Veg.  Pract.  218.  The 
infusion  is  anthelmintic  and  the  tincture  tonic.  Prof. 
Ives  recommends  it  as  efficient -in  checking  nausea  and 
vomiting.  The  Indian  women  employed  this  plant  in  pre- 
venting abortion.  It  is  used  by  the  vegetable  practitioners 
in  debility  of  the  digestive  organs,  given  in  doses  of  a  half- 
teaspoonful  of  the  powder  in  warm  water  three  times  a 
day.     The  root  when  chewed  relieves  cough. 

Amianthus  musccetoxicum,  Gray  in  K'th's  En.  PI.  \     Fly 
Helonias  erythrosperma  Mx.  and  Ell.  Sk.  J  poison. 

Grows  in  rich,  shaded  soils ;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berk- 


528 

ley;  near  Brunswick,  PI.  (T.  W.  Peyre's,  Esq.);  vicinity 
of  Charleston.     Fl.  May. 

Ell.  Bot.  421.  "A  narcotic  poison,  employed  in  some 
families  to  destroy  the  house-fly.  The  bulbs  are  triturated 
and  mixed  with  molasses.  The  flies,  if  not  swept  in  the 
fire,  or  otherwise  destroyed,  revive  in  the  course  of  twenty- 
four  hours."  I  would  invite  others  to  an  examination  of 
this  plant  as  a  remedial  agent. 

Veratrum  viride,  \       Itch-weed ;    Indian    poke ; 

"  album,  Mich.    J  white    hellebore.       Abbeville 

district,  S.  C. ;  grows  in  mountain  streams. 

Lind.  Kat.  Syst.  348.  "An  acrid  emetic  and  powerful 
stimulant,  followed  by  sedative  effects."  Big.  Med.  Bot. 
ii,  125.  Dr.  Tully  also  says  it  is  a  deobstruent  or  altera- 
tive, an  acrid  narcotic,  an  emetic,  an  epi  spastic,  and  an 
errhine  ;  found  very  useful  in  gout,  rheumatism,  diseases 
of  lungs,  and  some  complaints  of  the  bowels.  Osgood,  in 
the  Am.  Journal  Med.  Science,  states  that  it  is  perfectly 
certain  in  its  operation,  and  is,  in  all  respects,  analogous  to 
colchicum,  which  it  should  supersede.  Bigelow  states  that 
in  his  hands  it  has  arrested  the  paroxysm  of  gout,  and  has 
given  relief  in  some  cases  of  protracted  rheumatism.  It 
has  been  externally  employed,  in  the  form  of  ointment,  in 
many  cutaneous  affections.  Mr.  Worth  in  gt  on,  who  made 
a  full  analysis,  found  veratria,  gallic  acid,  extractive,  etc. 
See  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  IS".  S.  iii ;  Dr.  Osgood's  examina- 
tion, Am.  Journal  Med.  Sci.  1885,  and  Am.  Journal 
Pharm.  i",  202,  N".  S. ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  644;  Am. 
Journal  Pharm,  1ST.  S.  iv,  89;  Raf.  Med.  Fl.  585.  The 
tincture  or  the  extract  is  the  best  form  of  administration  ; 
the  dose  of  the  first  is  thirty  drops,  of  the  latter  one-third 
of  a  grain,  gradually  increased.  Kalrn  says  that  corn 
soaked  in  a  strong  decoction  will  be  protected  against  the 
encroachment  of  birds ;  those  that  eat  of  it  becoming 
giddy  fall  to  the  ground,  and  thus  deter  others.  The 
plant  is  considered  eminently  deserving  the  attention  of 
the  profession. 


529 

The  above  was  written  in  my  report  printed  in  1849. 
The  great  value  of  this  plant  is  now.  fully  recognized  as  a 
depressor  of  the  heart's  action.  It  is  also  emetic  and 
expectorant.  As  it  is  scarce,  our  other  species,  V.  inter- 
medium, growing  in  Florida,  and  V.  parvifolium  of  Mx., 
found  in  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina,  should  be 
examined.  Many  of  the  recent  journals  and  medical 
treatises  contain  full  descriptions  of  the  application  of  the 
V.  viride  to  the  treatment  of  typhoid  and  yellow  fevers, 
pneumonia,  etc.  See  Charleston  Medical  Journal  for  Drs. 
Ford  and  White's  paper  on  the  treatment  of  yellow  fever 
with  this  agent.  The  same  journal  contains  papers  by 
Norwood  and  others  on  the  employment  of  this  powerful 
sedative.  Its  discovery  is  encouraging  to  those  who  be- 
lieve that  the  same  perseverance  and  enlightened  skill 
which  gave  us  quinine,  morphia,  ai;d  chloroform,  may  add 
still  more  conquests  as  greater  familiarity  is  attained  with 
the  vegetable  wealth  of  our  country.  The  dose  of  the 
tincture  of  V.  viride  is  three  to  four  drops,  cautiously  in- 
creased. The  remedy  for  an  overdose  is  alcoholic  stimu- 
lants. Dr.  Norwood,  of  South  Carolina,  deserves  great 
credit  for  establishing  the  method  of  using  the  V.  viride. 
His  tincture  is  made  by  macerating  eight  ounces  of  the 
dried  root  in  sixteen  ounces  of  alcohol  for  two  weeks ; 
dose,  from  six  to  eight  drops,  repeated  cautiously  every 
three  hours,  gradually  increasing  till  its  effects  are  pro- 
duced. The  roots  should  be  collected  in  autumn ;  they 
deteriorate. 

Veratrum  parvifolium  and  angustifolium.  Both  are  found 
in  South  Carolina;  they  are  probably  active,  and  should 
be  examined. 

Gyromia  Virginica,  \     Indian  cucum- 

Medeola  "         Linn,  and  Ell.  Sk.  /   ber ;     Virginian 

medeola.     Grows  in  moist  soils ;    generally  found  under 

beech  trees ;  Newbern.     Fl.  June. 

U.  S.  Disp.  274.     Pursh  states  that  the  root  was  eaten 
34 


530 

by  the  Indians.  Dr.  Barton  thought  it  useful  in  dropsies. 
Bart.  M.  Bot. ;  Liud.  jSTat.  Syst.  Bot.  318.  It  enjoys  some 
reputation  as  a  hydragogue.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  iv,  270  ;  according  to  which  it  is  esteemed  a  very 
active  diuretic.     De  Cand.  Essai,  293. 

Trillium  sessile,  L.  Rare ;  grows  in  rich  shaded  soil ; 
collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  near  "Wantoot  PL;  vicin- 
ity of  Charleston  ;  I  have  observed  it  on  the  Ashley  road. 
Fl.  May. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  348.  '<  Roots  generally  violently 
emetic." 

Liliace^e.     ( The  Lily  Tribe.) 

♦ 

Erythronium  Americanum,  L.  V  Dog's-tooth  violet ;  ad- 
"  lanceolatum,  Ph.  jder's   tongue.      Grows  in 

the  upper  districts  and  in  •  Georgia ;  sent  to  me  from 
Abbeville  by  Mr.  Reed.     Fl.  April. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  318 ;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  iii,  151 ;  Mer.  and 
de  L.  Diet,  de  Mat.  Med.  iii,  147;  .Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  269; 
Bart.  Flora  F.  Am.  133 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  The  recent 
bulbs  are  emetic  when  powdered  and  given  in  doses  of 
twenty  to  forty  grains.  When  dried  or  cooked  they 
become  eatable.  The  berries  are  said  to  be  more  active 
and  certain  in  their  operation  than  the  root. 

Yucca  Jilamentosa,  L.  Bear-grass.  Diffused  ;  I  have  col- 
lected it  in  Sumter  district,  S.  C. 

A  tincture  of  the  roots  is  much  employed  in  rheuma- 
tism. The  "  Cherokee  doctors  "  use  it  in  the  form  of  a 
poultice  of  the  roots,  or  a  salve,  as  a  local  application  in 
allaying  inflammation. 

The  fibre  is  uncommonly  strong,  and  is  used  for  various 
purposes  on  our  plantations :  for  making  thongs  for  hang- 
ing up  the  heaviest  hams,  bacon,  etc.  I  do  not  know 
whether  it  has  been  tried  as  a  substitute  for  hemp  and 
cordage,  as  Mr.  W.  G.  Simms  suggests  in  a  letter  to  me. 

I  have  since  (July,  1862)  seen  an  article  in  the  Charles- 


531 

ton  Courier,  entitled  "  Confederate  Flax,"  in  which  it  is 
stated  that  Mr.  D.  Ewart,  of  Florida,  had  presented  for 
exhibition  "  specimens  of  scutched  fibre,  and  of  cordage 
and  twine  of  different  sizes,  made  from  the  very  common 
plant  familiarly  known  as  bear-grass,  or  Adam's  needles." 
He  also  communicated  the  processes  employed  in  reducing 
it  to  cordage.  The  Columbus  (Ga.)  Sun,  of  a  later  date, 
reports  a  coil  of  rope  made  by  Mr.  Jas.  Torrey,  which  was 
pronounced  by  competent  authority  to  be  equal  to  Ken- 
tucky rope.  The  plants  in  the  above  instance  were  rotted 
and  prepared  by  a  negro  boy. 

Gov.  Call  (see  Southern  Cultivator,  p.  27,  vol.  5,  1847), 
in  stating  that  the  bear-grass  is  an  evergreen,  says  that  it 
may  be  prepared  for  use  at  any  season,  as  it  sustains  no 
loss  or  depreciation  by  remaining  in  the  ground.  Six 
months  growth  will  give  a  plant  of  good  size,  and  the 
hemp  made  from  such  a  plant  will  be  as  long  and  possess 
quite  as  much  strength  as  that  made  from  plants  of  older 
growth.  But  it  will  have  fewer  leaves,  and  consequently 
produce  less  fibre.  It  will  require  planting  but  once  in  a 
lifetime,  and  with  but  little  culture  will  produce  abundant 
crops  of  five  or  six  tons  per  acre.  "After  boiling  the 
leaves  and  putting  them  up  in  small  bundles  of  convenient 
size  for  the  purpose,  I  have  passed  them  through  an  ordi- 
nary wooden  sugar  mill,  dipping  them  in  water  at  each 
passage  until  the  surplus  matter  has  been  removed,  leaving 
the  fibres  perfectly  cleansed,  unimpaired,  and  ready  for 
use."  It  can  be  propagated  by  cutting  the  roots  like  the 
sweet  potato.  The  same  number  contains  a  report  from 
the  Secretary  of  War  upon  the  same  subject.  Congress 
allowed  Dr.  Perrine  a  grant  of  land  in  Florida  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  Sisal  and  other  hemp  plants.  His 
death  defeated  the  enterprise. 

Allium  Ccmadense,W .  Onion-tree;  meadow  garlic.  Grows 
in  damp  soils ;  Newbern. 

Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  653.  It  is  employed  as  a  substitute 
for  the  common  garlic,  and  it  is  said  to  be  fully  as  efficient. 


532 

Its  top  bulbs  are  greatly  prized  for  pickling,  being  consid- 
ered of  superior  flavor  to  the  common  onion  for  that  pur- 
pose. For  cultivation,  see  Farm.  Encyc,  Gr.  W.  Johnson. 
Most  of  the  exotic  alliaceous  plants,  the  leek,  onion,  garlic, 
etc.,  are  cultivated  in  the  Confederate  States.  Cotton  or 
wool  wet  with  the  juice  of  garlic,  and  applied  in  the  ear,  is< 
said  to  relieve  deafness.  The  juice  or  syrup  is  given  to 
infants  with  colic ;  a  few  drops  being  used  in  place  of 
paregoric.     Said  to  be  both  stimulant  and  carminative. 

Allium  Carolinianum.     "Wild  garlic. 

Several  species  of  alliaceous  plants  grow  within  the  Con- 
federate States.  The  juice  of  garlic  acts  medicinally  as  an 
expectorant.  It  is  a  strong  cement  for  broken  glass  and 
china.  Preparations  of  garlic  will  expel  snails,  grubs, 
moles,  worms,  etc.,  placed  near  their  haunts.  Wilson's 
Rural  Cyc. 

Schoenotyrion  Jlichauxii,  Torr.  Swamps  and  pine  barrens; 
Florida,  and  westward.     Chap. 

The  bulbous,  roots  of  this  and  the  Molina  Georgiana,  Mx., 
are  allied  to  the  squill,  and  should  be  examined. 

Aletris  fariuosa,  L.  Star-grass ;  unicorn  root.  Diffused 
in  damp  pine  lands  ;  collected  in  St.  John's ;  vicinity  of 
Charleston  ;  INTe  wbern.     Fl.  July. 

Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  iii,  92 ;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap. 
ii,  121  ;  Frost's  Elems.  283 ;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  Mat. 
Med.  i,  161;  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  353;  Clayton's  Phil. 
Trans.  Ab.  viii,  333;  Cutler,  Am.  Acad,  i,  435;  Griffith, 
Med.  Bot.  623.  "  The  root  is  tonic  and  stomachic  in  small 
doses,  but  one  of  twenty  grains  occasions  nausea,  with  a 
tendency  to  vomit."  Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  Bigelow  knew  of 
no  plant  exceeding  this  in  genuine,  intense,  and  permanent 
bitter.  Pursh  says  it  is  an  excellent  remedy  in  colic ; 
Cullen,  in  chronic  rheumatism ;  and  Dr.  Thacher,  in 
dropsical  affections.  Infused  in  vinegar,  it  is  given  in 
intermittent  fever  attended  with  dropsical  accumulations. 


533 

The  decoction  of  the  root  and  leaves  in  liberal  doses  is 
much  employed  in  popular  practice  in  the  lower  portions  of 
South  Carolina.  The  root  is  quite  resinous,  and  is  sup- 
posed to  contain  a  portion  of  extractive  matter,  hence  its 
use  in  coughs  and  colds,  as  it  does  not  at  the  same  time 
impair  the  tone  of  the  digestive  organs.  It  is  said  to  pro- 
duce soreness  of  the  mouth.  Ten  grains  act  as  a  tonic. 
The  tincture  is  the  strongest  preparation.  It  is  employed 
by  the  vegetable  practitioners.  See  Howard's  Imp.  Syst. 
Bot.  Med.  285. 

Aletris  aurea,  Walter.  Yellow  star-grass.  Grows  in  sim- 
ilar situations;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  near 
Pinopolis  :  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  39 ;  Frost's  Elems.  283  ;  U.  S. 
Disp.  67.  It  is  purgative  and  nauseating  in  large  doses, 
probably  possessed  of  properties  similar  to  the  above. 

Convallaria  majallis.  Lily  of  the  valley.  According  to 
Elliott,  grows  on  the  highest  mountains  of  South  Carolina. 

Bull.  Plantes  Yen.  de  France,  164.  The  powder  of  the 
leaves  is  said  to  be  a  very  active  sternutatory.  Dem.  El6m. 
de  Bot.  by  Gillibert,  ii,  6.  Some  practitioners  order  the 
powder  of  the  leaves  in  epileptic  affections,  depending  upon 
verminous  influence.  The  flowers  furnish  a  good  deal  of 
essential  oil.  "We  have  tried  with  success  a  powder 
of  the  flowers  in  inveterate  pain  of  the  head."  Trans, 
from  op.  ait.  This  was  taken  in  the  nostrils  as  snuff.  Dr. 
Wood,  in  the  U.  S.  Disp.  1249,  confirms  the  assertion  ir. 
reference  to  the  power  the  flowers  possess  of  exciting 
sneezing.  They  have  a  delightful  odor,  resembling  that  of 
musk,  and  when  dried  and  powdered  are  much  employed 
as  a  sternutatory,  acting  sometimes  quite  violently.  Ac- 
cording to  Merat  they  are  esteemed  in  nervous  headaches 
and  vertigo;  and  when  pulverized  are  emetic  and  purgative. 
See  Diss.  Botanico  Med.  Inaug.  de  Lilium.  Conval.  1718? 
Al  Torfii ;  Diss.  Inaug.  at  Gottingen,  1757  ;  one  by  Misdorf, 
in  1742;  and  another  by  Schultze,  in  the  same  year.    Shec, 


534 

in  his  Flora  Carol.  431,  states  that  the  dried  flowers  are  nar- 
cotic. "The  extract  of  the  root  and  flowers  possesses  pur- 
gative properties  similar  to  aloes."  The  poultice  of  the  root 
enjoys  some  celebrity  for  taking  away  the  marks  of  bruises, 
etc.  With  the  addition  of  lime  to  the  leaves  a  beautiful 
green  color  is  obtained.  The  dose  of  the  simple  distilla- 
tion of  the  flowers  is  four  ounces  ;  when  powdered  sixty 
grains ;  of  extract  two  to  three  grains.  The  berries  are 
large,  and  scarlet  colored.  The  plant  is  much  admired  and 
cultivated  throughout  Europe.  The  dried  flowers  have  a 
narcotic  odor,  and  when  pulverized  they  provoke  sneezing, 
and  may  be  used  as  a  sternutatory.     Rural  Cyc. 

Convallaria  multiflora,  \     Solo- 

Polygonatum  multiflorum.,  Desfont.  and  Ell.  Sk.  /  mon's 
seal.     Grows  in  damp  soils. 

U.  S.  Disp.  1249.  This  is  used  in  similar  cases ^vith  the 
European  species  (the  Con.  polygonatum),  the  root  of  which 
was  employed  as  a  cosmetic,  and  which  according  to  Her- 
mann is  a  good  remedy  in  gout  and  rheumatism.  See 
Kouv.  Journal  de  Med.  v,  209.  Thirty  grains  of  the  dried 
root  is  given  in  Russia  as  a  preventive  against  plague. 
Bull  des  Sc.  Med.  v,  209. 

Polygonatum  biflorum,  L.  \  This,  Convallaria  majalis  (lity 
P.  pubescens,  Pursh.  /of  the  valley),  and  species  of 
the  genus  Smilacina  (Solomon's  seal),  growing  in  the  Con- 
federate States,  yield  starch  from  their  roots.  I  have  often 
noticed  the  tuberous  roots  of  Convallaria  bifiora.  Starch  is 
abundant  in  them. 

Uvular ia  perfoliate,  L.  Grows  in  damp  soils ;  collected 
in  St.  John's.     Fl.  June. 

Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  641.  The  roots  of  the  different  spe- 
cies are  subacid  and  mucilaginous  when  fresh ;  and  a 
decoction  of  them  has  been  employed  as  a  domestic  remedy 
in  sore  mouth  and  in  affections  of  the  throat ;  also  consid- 
ered as  alexipharmic  in  snake  bites.     The  roots  are,  how- 


535 

ever,  edible  when  cooked,  and  the  young  shoots  are  a  very 
good  substitute  for  asparagus.    See,  also,  Smilax. 
» 
JJvularia  sessiliflora,  L.    Collected  in  St.  Stephen's  parish, 
in  damp  soils.    Fl.  July.    Similar  in  properties  to  the  above. 

Asparagus  officinalis,  L.  Ex.  Wat.  on  banks  of  Cooper 
river;  vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach.     Fl.  May. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  Supplem.  1846,  p.  73. 
A  preparation  in  the  shape  of  a  syrup  was  much  in  vogue 
as  a  powerful  sedative  in  palpitation  of  the  heart,  used 
by  Broussais.  Journal  de  Pharm.  xix,  667.  Its  diuretic 
property  is  well  known.  Revue  Med.  1838,  p.  409.  See 
M.  Locliberts  on  its  culture,  and  an  account  of  the  alco- 
holic fermentation  from  the  branches,  in  the  Journal  de 
Med.  Militaire. 

Asparagus  for  coffee.-^-L\eb'ig  states  that  asparagus  con- 
tains, in  common  with  tea  and  coffee,  a  principle  which  he 
calls  taurine,  and  which  he  considers  essential  to  the  health 
of  those  who  do  not  take  strong  exercise.  By  this  a  writer 
in  the  London  Gardener's  Chronicle  was  led  to  test  aspara- 
gus as  a  substitute  for  coffee.  He  says :  "  The  young  shoots 
were  not  agreeable,  having  an  alkaline  taste.  I  then  tried 
ripe  seeds,  and  they,  roasted  and  ground,  make  a  full  fla- 
vored coffee,  not  easily  distinguished  from  fine  Mocha. 
The  seeds  are  easily  freed  from  the  berries  by  drying  them 
in  a  cool  (warm,  I  suppose  he  means)  oven,  and  then  rub- 
bing them  on  a  sieve.  There  is  in  Berlin,  Prussia,  a  large 
establishment  for  the  manufacture  of  coffee  from  acorns 
and  chiccory,  the  articles  being  made  separately.  The 
chiccory  is  mixed  with  an  equal  weight  of  turnips  to  ren- 
der it  sweeter.  The  acorn  coffee,  which  is  made  from 
roasted  and  ground  acorns,  is  sold  in  large  quantities,  and 
frequently  with  rather  a  medicinal  than  an  economical 
view,  as  it  is  thought  to  have  a  wholesome  effect  upon  the 
blood.  Acorn  coffee  is,  however,  made  and  used  in  many 
parts  of  Germany  for  the  sole  purpose  of  adulterating 
genuine  coffee."     Annual  of  Scientific  Discovery. 


536 

Commelinace^e.     ( The  Spiderwort  Tribe.) 
Commeliria   communis,   Pursh.     Grows   in   pine  barrens ; 
collected  in  St.  John's ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  ISTewbern. 
Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  272.  In  Cochin 
China  it  is  said  to  be  employed  as  a  refrigerant  and  relax- 
ant ;  prescribed  in  constipation  and  strangury.  The  flower 
is  of  a  beautiful  blue,  and  Ksempher  says  that  a  color  like 
ultramarine  might  be  obtained  from  it. 

Alismace.33.     {The  Water  Tlantain  Tribe.) 
All  are  aquatic  plants,  and  many  contain  a  fleshy  rhizome 
which  is  eatable. 

Sagittaria  sagittifolia,  Mich.  V  Arrow-head.  Grows  in 
"         latifolia,  ~W,  J  rice  fields;  collected  on  Coop- 

er river ;  I  have  specimens  from  Sumter  district ;  vicinity 
of  Charleston,  Bachman  ;  Kewbern.     Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  153  ;  Journal  Comp. 
des  Sc.  Med.  xix,  143.  The  leaves  are  acrid,  and  it  is  pro- 
posed to  employ  them  in  dispersing  scrofulous  ulcers. 
Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  ii,  416.  The  Chinese  are  said  to  cul- 
tivate it  on  account  of  the  bulbous  roots,  which  are  eaten. 
It  was  employed  as  food  by  the  Indians.  Wade's  PI.  Rari- 
ores,  80.  It  is  said  that  the  leaves,  applied  to  the  breasts 
of  nursing  women,  will  tend  to  dispel  the  milk.  Griffith's 
Med.  Bot.  619.  The  fecula  is  like  arrow-root  (Maranta 
arund.),  and  has  been  used  for  similar  purposes. 

The  root  of  this  plant  is  often  of  great  length.  In  China 
it  is  used  as  an  article  of  food.  ~No  doubt  it  contains  starch. 
Our  canna  (C.  flacida)  very  probably  yields  starch,  for  the 
arrow-root,  utous  les  mois,"  from  C.  eoccinea,  makes  a  stiffer 
jelly  than  that  from  the  Maranta  or  Florida  arrow-root. 

Alisma  plantago,  L.  I       Water  plantain. 

A.  trivialis  and  parviflora  of  Pursh.  J  Ditches  and  ponds; 
Georgia,  and  northward. 

It  is  used  by  the  vegetable  practitioners  as  a  demulcent 


537 

astringent  in  affections  of  the  bowels,  and  by  the  "Chero- 
kee doctors"  as  an  external  application  to  "sores,  wounds, 
bruises,  swellings,  etc.,"  being  employed  as  a  poultice  and 
wash. 

Junce^e.     {The  Rush  Tribe.) 
Juncus  communis,  Mey,  in  Kuuth's  En.  PI.  \  Soft  rush  ;  bul- 
"      effusus,  Linn,  and  Ell.  Sk.  /rush.      Grows 

in  bogs  and  morasses;  Kewbern.     Fl.  May. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  531.  Cultivated  in  Japan  for  making 
floor  mats,  chair  bottoms,  etc.  It  is  sometimes  employed 
in  South  Carolina  for  similar  purposes.  The  pith,  when 
dried  and  oiled,  will  -serve  as  a  wick.  A  decoction  of  the 
plant  is  said  to  be  diuretic. 

Smilace^.     (The  Smilax  Tribe.) 
Smilax  pseudo-  China,  L.    China-briar.    Grows  in  swamps, 
along  streams;  collected  in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  jSTewbern. 
Fl.  May. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  700;  IT.  S.  Disp.  634;  Pe.  Mat. 
Med.  and  Therap.  133;  De  Cand.  Prodrom.  i,  351;  Frost's 
Elems.  Mat.  Med.  228.  The  decoction  is  alterative ;  in  large 
doses  emetic.  It  is  much  used  in  portions  of  the  Confed- 
erate States  in  the  composition  of  diet  drinks,  and  it  is 
considered  one  of  the  best  substitutes  for  sarsaparilla. 
Griffith.  Med.  Bot.  660,  states  that  the  Indians  employed 
the  fecula  of  this,  as  well  as  that  of  the  S.  caduca,  laurifolia, 
and  tamnoides — all  indigenous  to  South  Carolina. 

The  roots  of  this  plant  contain  a  good  deal  of  starch. 
They  are,  consequently,  to  a  certain  extent  light  and  porous, 
and  are  used  to  make  pipes  with,  also  by  our  soldiers  in 
camp  in  tlie  manufacture  of  an  extemporaneously  prepared 
beer.  The  root  is  mixed  with  molasses  and  water  in  an 
open  tub,  a  few  seeds  of  parched  corn  or  rice  are  added,  and 
after  a  slight  fermentation  it  is  seasoned  with  sassafras. 
The  young  shoots  of  the  China-briar  are  eaten  as  aspara- 
gus, with  which  they  are  closely  allied.  They  impart  the 
same  odor  to  the  urine,  and  probably  contain  asparagine. 


538 

Lawson,  in  his  "Travels  in  Carolina,"  says:  "The  root 
is  a  round  ball,  which  the  Indians  boil  and  eat."  Croom 
states  in  the  notes  to  his  "  Catalogue,"  p.  48,  that  these  roots 
become  in  time  of  scarcity  an  important  article  of  food  to 
the  southern  Indians.  The  Seminoles,  of  Florida,  obtain 
from  them,  by  maceration  in  water,  their  red  meal,  and  from 
the  roots  of  Zamia  integrifolia  their  white  meal,  "which  have 
subsisted  them  in  part  during  their  late  campaign." 

The  seeds  of  the  berries  are  exceedingly  hard,  and  are 
used  as  beads.  I  have  seen  a  necklace  made  with  them  re- 
sembling coral,  which  may  well  be  called  "Indian  coral." 

Smilax  sarsaparilla,  L.  \  Rich  soils ;  Abbeville  district ; 
"       glauea,  Walt,     j  Fl.  July. 

U.  S.  Disp.  634;  Woodv.  Med.  Bot.  161.  This  does 
not  appear  to  be  the  officinal  sarsaparilla,  though  it  proba- 
bly shares  the  alterative  virtues  belonging  to  the  genus. 
Thornton's  Fain.  Herbal,  241 ;  Journal  de  Pharm.  xvi,  38 ; 
Frost's  Elems.  Mat.  Med.  223.  It  is  supposed  to  be  possessed 
of  undoubted  efficacy,  given  in  diet  drinks  and  alterative 
mixtures  combined  with  the  China-briar,  and  used  in  syph- 
ilis and  chronic  rheumatism.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  iii,  79;  Humboldt's  Voyage,  viii,  378;  Analysis  in 
Journal  de  Chim.  Med.  i,  215.  A  principle  has  been  de- 
rived from  it,  called  smilacine.  Journal  de  Pharm.  xvi,  501, 
and  xviii,  324.  From  Bartley's  examination,  in  the  Edin. 
Med.  Journal,  xvi,  473,  the  virtues  appear  to  reside  in  the 
cortical  part;  hence,  it  is  best  extracted  by  the  cold  infusion. 
Biblioth.  Med.  xxvi,  119.  According  to  these  writers,  it  is 
considered  a  powerful  sudorific  and  alterative,  indicated 
when  you  wish  to  produce  diaphoresis,  as  in  rheumatism  of 
the  joints;  and  this  agrees  with  the  experience  of  those 
who  have  tried  it  in  the  Confederate  States.  J.  Pope,  Re- 
cherches  upon  the  different  species  of  Sarsaparilla,  in  Journal 
Gren.  de  Med.  xci,  300,  and  Thunberg's  Mem.  on  the  quan- 
tity of  extractive  matter  furnished  by  the  species. 

Smilax  caduea,  L.     Arouud  ponds,  and  in  rich  shaded 


539 

soils;  collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston;  New- 
bern.     Fl.  June. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  375.  Some  have 
asserted  that  it  furnishes  caoutchouc.  See  Hist.  Nat.  Pharm. 
ii,  590. 

Smilax  tamnoides,  L.  Grows  in  dry  soils ;  collected  in  St. 
John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  June. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  vi,  384.  The  root  of 
this  also,  says  Merat,  is  employed  in  the  form  of  decoction 
to  purify  the  blood. 

Smilax  herbacea,  L.  Grows  in  rich  wooded  soils ;  collected 
in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  June. 

This  species  has  been  used  for  its  alterative  properties. 

Smilax  ovata,  Ph.  and  Ell.  Sk.  Grows  on  the  sea-shore, 
Ell.;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  June. 

Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  ii,  698.  Remarkable  for  the  fra- 
grance of  its  flowers. 

Dioscc-REACEiE.     (The   Yam  Tribe.) 

Dioscorea  villosa,  L.  "Wild  yam.  Grows  in  damp  soils; 
collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 

Griffith's  Med.  Bot.  659.  The  decoction  of  the  root,  ac- 
cording to  Riddell,  in  a  late  paper,  Synops.  Flo.  West.  St. 
93,  is  eminently  beneficial  in  bilious  colic:  one  ounce  is 
added  to  one  pint  of  water,  and  half  of  this  is  taken  at  a 
dose.  He  says  it  acts  with  great  promptitude,  and  that  Dr. 
Neville  places  much  reliance  on  the  tincture  as  an  expecto- 
rant; it  is  likewise  diaphoretic,  and  in  large  doses  emetic. 
Attention  is  invited  to  its  employment. 

See  illustrated  papers  in  Patent  Office  Reports,  p.  169, 
1854,  and  p.  250,  1856,  on  the  Chinese  yam  (Dioscorea  ba- 
tatas) which  bears  a  large  tuber,  like  the  potato,  and  yields 
starch,  sugar,  etc.  The  roots  do  not  require  to  be  stored  in 
cellars,  though  this  may  be  done ;  they  are  dug  in  the  fall. 
I  have  seen  it  growing  at  Col.  J.  B.  Moore's,  near  State- 


'     540 

burg,  S.  C.  The  root  is  said  to  be  "voluminous,  ricb  in 
nutritive  matter,  and  can  be  cooked  in  every  respect  like 
the  common  potato,  and  even  be  eaten  in  the  raw  state." 
The  yam  cultivated  at  the  South  is  Dioscorea  sativa;  another 
species  raised  here,  D.  alata,  weighs  sometimes  thirty  pounds. 

Araceje.     (The  Arum  Tribe.) 

An  acrid  principle  generally  pervades  this  tribe,  existing 
in  some  of  them  to  a  high  degree. 

Ariscema  atroreubens,  Blum,  in  K'th's  En.  PL  ~»    Wake  rob- 

Aritm  triphyllum,  L.     Ell.  8k.  J  in ;     Indian 

turnip;   dragon-root. 

Grows  in  rich  soils;  collected  in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of 
Charleston;  Newbern.     Fl.  June. 

Eberle,  Mat.  Med.  ii,  437 ;  Chap.  Therap.  and  Mat.  Med. 
ii,  41;  U.  S.  Disp.  123;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  78; 
Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  i,  52;  Am.  Journal  Pharm.  xv,  83; 
Thacher's  U.  S.  Disp.,  art.  A.  triphyllum,  153;  Cullen, 
Mat.  Med.  ii,  211  and  554;  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M. 
Med.  i,  460;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  121;  Schcepf,  Mat.  Med. 
133;  Rush,  ii,  301;  Barton's  Collec.  29;  Shec.  Flora  Carol. 
273;  McCall,  in  Phil.  Med.  Journal,  ii,  84;  Cutler,  Am. 
Acad,  i,  487;  Lind.  Fat.  Syst.  Bot.  364;  Matson ' s  Yeg. 
Pract.  295,  and  Thompson's  Steam.  Pract.  It  is  said  to  be 
similar  in  its  action  to  the  A.  maculatum.  Dr.  Meara 
affirms  that  it  does  not  act  on  the  general  circulatory,  but 
only  on  the  glandular  system,  which  it  stimulates  greatly, 
and  the  secretions  of  which  it  augments.  Dr.  Wood  says 
it  stimulates  the  secretions  of  the  skin  and  lungs  also.  It 
is  used  advantageously  in  diseases  of  the  mucous  mem- 
branes, particularly  pertussis  and  asthma.  "In  the  chronic 
asthmatic  affections  of  old  people  it  is  a  remedy  of  very 
considerable  value."  The  powder  of  the  fresh  root,  made 
into  a  paste  with  honey  or  syrup,  and  placed  in  small 
quantities  upon  the  tongue  so  as  to  be  gradually  diffused 
over  the  mouth  and  throat,  is  said  to  have  proved  useful  in 
the  aphthous  sore  throat  of  children.      Dr.  Thacher  em- 


541 

ployed  it  in  this  affection,  and  adds  that  it  is  of  approved 
efficacy  in  rheumatism.  "Milk  in  which  the  acrid  princi- 
ple of  the  A.  trifihyl.  has  been  boiled  has  been  known  to 
cure  consumption!"  De  Cand.  cit.  in  Lind.  The  sliced 
root  has  been  used  as  an  application  for  poisoning  by  the 
ivy  {Rhus).  Lindley  remarks  of  some  of  this  class  that 
"•the  spadixes  disengage  a  sensible  quantity  of  heat  when 
they  are  about  to  open."  An  ointment,  made  by  stewing 
the  fresh  root  in  lard,  is  applied  in  scald-head,  in  ringworm, 
and  other  eruptions  and  cutaneous  diseases,  acting  as  a 
stimulant.  The  root  is  a  decided  expectorant.  Agardh 
considers  that  the  acrid  principle,  which,  notwithstanding 
its  fugacity,  has  lately  been  obtained  pure,  is  of  great  power 
as  a  stimulant.  In  corroboration,  I  would  mention  my 
having  produced  vesication  merely  by  rubbing  the  stem  of 
the  Arum  Walteri  (South  Carolina  species)  in  contact  with 
the  unbroken  skin;  and  I  observe  that  both  species  are 
very  irritating  to  the  fauces.  By  chemical  analysis  (Am. 
Journal  Pharm.  xv,  83)  it  contains,  besides  the  acrid  princi- 
ple, from  ten  to  seventeen  per  cent,  of  starch,  which  may 
be  obtained  from  it  as  white  and  as  delicate  as  from  the 
potato;  also  albumen,  gum,  sugar,  extractive,  lignin,  and 
salts  of  potassa  and  lime.  Bigelow  states  (i,  59)  that  the 
starch  is  prepared  by  pouring  repeatedly  portions  of  water 
Over  the  fresh  root  reduced  to  a  pulp  by  grating,  and 
placed  on  a  strainer,  the  farinaceous  part  being  ^carried 
through,  and  leaving  the  fibrous  behind.  Dr.  McCall,  of 
Georgia,  found  it  to  yield  one-fourth  part  its  weight  of 
pure  amylaceous  matter,  which  is  white,  delicate,  and  nu- 
tritive. See,  also,  the  experiments  of  Bigelow  to  extract 
the  acrimonious  principle  of  the  fresh  root.  The  root  may 
be  preserved  if  kept  buried  in  the  sand.  Dose  of  recently 
dried  root,  ten  grains  mixed  with  gum-arabic,  sugar,  and 
water,  in  the  form  of  emulsion,  repeated  and  increased. 
During  scarcity  of  food  almost  any  substance  that  contains 
starch,  even  though  it  be  associated  with  bitter  or  noxious 
principles,  may  furnish  material  for  bread.  "From  the 
acorn  a  kind  of  meal  is  produced  which  makes  excellent 


542 

bread,  provided  that  a  little  barley  meal  be  mingled  with  it 
to  counteract  its  astringent  qualities.  M.  Parmentier  ex- 
tracted the  farina  or  starch  of  the  bryony,  the  iris,  gladiolus, 
ranunculus,  fumaria,  arum  dracunculus,  mandragora,  col- 
chicum,  filipendula,  and  hellebores,  etc.  It  is  only  neces- 
sary to  cleanse  these  roots,  to  scrape  and  pound  them,  and 
then  to  soak  the  pulp  in  a  considerable  quantity  of  water; 
a  white  sediment  is  deposited,  which  when  washed  and 
dried  is  a  real  starch.  M.  Parmentier  converted  these  dif- 
ferent  starches  into  bread  by  mingling  them  with  an  equal 
portion  of  potatoes  reduced  into  pulp,  and  the  ordinary 
dose  of  wheaten  leaven ;  the  bread  had  no  bad  taste,  and 
its  quality  was  excellent."  "Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  We  have 
in  the  Confederate  States  several  species  of  the  genera  men- 
tioned above.  See  index  to  this  volume;  also,  " Zizania" 
or  Canada  rice.  A  knowledge  of  these  plants  may  prove 
serviceable  in  case  of  an  emergency. 

Peltandra  Virginica,  Raf.  (Kunth,  En.  PI.)  ~»      Common  in 
Arum  Virginicum,  L.  j  swamps;    col- 

lected in  St.  John's,  Berkley;  vicinity  of  Charleston.  PL 
May. 

Stearns'  Am.  Herbal,  133.  Property  probably  similar 
to  those  of  the  above.  "Powerfully  stimulant,  diuretic, 
and  diaphoretic.  Stimulates  the  solids,  promotes  the  se- 
cretiorr»of  perspiration,  urine,  etc.;  good  in  languid,  phleg- 
monous habits,  in  relaxation  and  weakness  of  the  stomach, 
loss  of  appetite,  in  jaundice,  hysterical  and  hypochondria- 
cal complaints,  rheumatism,  pains,  and  obstinate  head- 
aches unattended  with  fever."  Dose,  ten  grains,  with  sixty 
grains  of  gum-arabic,  twenty  of  spermaceti,  and  eight  of 
sugar. 

Arum  maculatum.  I  find  that  this  species  is  not  a  native 
of  the  Confederate  States;  but  the  indigenous  A.  irvphyllum 
is  said  to  possess  precisely  the  same  properties ;  so  I  will 
allow  it  to  remain. 

Bull.  Plantes  Ven.  de  France,  83.     "The  leaves,  being 


543 

eaten  by  three  children,  produced  horrible  convulsions," 
swelling  of  the  tongue,  etc.  One  author  mentions  that  he 
uses  the  root  with  great  success  in  rheumatic  pains,  in  doses 
of  six  to  twenty  grains  of  fresh  root,  three  times  a  day. 
The  emulsion  is  more  sedative.  The  dry  root  is  quite  nu- 
tritious, serving  as  an  article  of  food.  Catalogus  Planta- 
rum,  28.  The  decoction  of  the  root  with  hone}^  is  a  power- 
ful expectorant,  and  is  useful  in  asthma.  {JExpectorat  enim 
validissime  crassas  lentasque  excreationes.)  The  Catalogus 
Plantarum  of  Ray,  furthermore,  expresses  this  high  opin- 
ion: "  Remedium  est  prcestantissimum  et  minime  fallax  adversus 
venenum  et  pestem,  astkmaticos  maxime  juvat,  hernias  curat  et 
urinam  ciet."  See,  also,  the  Historia Plantarum  Paii,  p.  1208. 
The  root,  dried  and  powdered,  has  been  sold  as  a  cosmetic, 
under  the  name  of  cypress  powder;  said  also  to  possess  a 
soporific  quality,  and  to  be  used  in  washing  linen.  Linn. 
Veg.  Mat.  Med.  168 ;  Woodv.  Med.  Pot.  75.  The  recent 
root,  according  to  Orfila,  will  cause  the  death  of  a  dog  in 
thirty-six  hours.  Toxicol.  298;  Ancien.  Journal  de  Med. 
xxxiv,  529.  See  Diet,  des  Drogues,  i,  355,  for  chemical 
analysis.  Portland  sago  is  made  from  the  root.  Encycl. 
Plants,  800.  The  bad  effects  resulting  from  the  use  of  the 
Arum  are  alleviated  by  the  administration  of  buttermilk 
and  oily  liquors.  Shecut,  in  his  Flora  Carol.,  speaks  of  its 
great  reputation  as  an  effectual  remedy  in  cachectic  cases, 
in  weakness  of  stomach,  and  fixed  rheumatic  pains.  The 
fresh  root,  externally  applied,  is  a  good  substitute  for  Span- 
ish flies.  Dr.  Lewis,  in  the  Fam.  Herbal,  751,  asserts  that 
neither  water  nor  spirit  extracts  its  virtues,  the  fresh  root 
being  best  administered  in  substance,  in  the  form  of  a  bolus 
or  emulsion,  or  by  heating  it  up  with  resin  or  gum,  and 
keeping  in  pill.  Geoffroi  alludes  to  it  as  a  valuable  stom- 
achic, for  restoring  lost  appetite;  useful  in  chlorosis,  jaun- 
dice, and  hysterical  affections.  He  says  that  by  boiling  the 
root  in  vinegar  it  becomes  powerfully  diuretic.  Bergius 
reports  the  root  as  of  great  service,  mixed  with  an  alkaline 
aromatic,  in  cases  of  obstinate  periodical  headache,  when 
the  pulse  is  slower  than  natural  without  fever.     Journal  de 


544 

Pharm.  xii,  158.  Merat,  in  the  Diet,  de  Mat.  Med.,  endor- 
ses the  opinions  generally  expressed  above.  IT.  S.  Disp. 
123;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  i,  52.     Sir  J.  E.  Smith,  in  his 

Introd.  to  Botany,  says  that  it  is  asserted  by that  at 

the  period  of  inflorescence,  between  4  and  10  o'clock,  p.  m., 
the  flower  is  actually  "hot,"  causing  the  thermometer  to 
rise  several  degrees. 

Symplocarpus  fceiidus.     (Pothos  of  Mx.)     Skunk  cabbage. 

A  fetid  plant,  supposed  to  possess  some  antispasmodic 
power.  The  root,  chewed,  produces  a  prickling  sensation 
in  the  mouth. 

Orontium  aquaticam,  Mx.  Golden-club.  Roots  often  im- 
mersed; common  in  lower  country;  collected  in  St.  John's. 
Fl.  May. 

Lind.  Nat.  Syst.  365.  "The  root  is  acrid,  but  becomes 
eatable  by  roasting."  Both  the  seeds  and  roots  were  eaten 
by  the  Indians. 

Typhace^e.     (The  Bulrush  Tribe.) 

Typha  latifolia,  L.  Cat-tail;  reed  mace.  Morasses  and 
stagnant  waters,  often  immersed;  collected  in  St.  John's; 
vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  Newbern. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  t.  vi,  795;  Journal  de 
Chim.  Med.  iv,  179;  Journal  de  Pharm.  xii,  564.  This 
plant  receives  an  extended  notice  in  European  works.  The 
root  is  eaten  as  a  salad.  See,  also,  Lightfoot's  Fl.  Scotica, 
ii,  339.  A  jelly  also  is  extracted  from  it.  Aublet  assures 
us  it  is  good  in  gonorrhoea  and  chronic  dysentery.  See  an 
analysis  in  Journal  de  Pharm.  xii,  564,  and  xiv,  221.  Little 
crystals  of  phosphate  of  lime  are  found  in  the  stems.  It  is 
said  also  to  be  abundant  in  fecula.  Decouv.  des  Russes.  iii, 
450;  Gmelin,  Flora  Siberica,  i,  25-139.  See  Vignal's  Essay 
on  the  treatment  of  wounds  with  the  pollen  or  aigrettes  of 
the  Typha,  which  it  is  proposed  to  use  as  a  substitute  for 
cotton  (in  French^  Paris,  1803.  The  bark  has  been  em- 
ployed in  the  fabrication  of  hats,  and  with  cotton  in  making 


545 

gloves;  and  some  have  recommended  it  in  making  China 
paper.  See  the  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  The  down  has  been 
used  to  stuff  mattresses.  Linnsefts  informs  us  that  the  coop- 
ers in  Sweden  employ  the  stalks  to  bind  their  casks  with. 
In  England  they  use  the  Scirpus  laGustris,  and  in  Italy  the 
Car  ex  acuta  (all  South  Carolina  species,  which  see)  to  fasten 
the  timber  in  the  joints.  The  stalks  are  opened  longitudi- 
nally, and  placed  between  the  interstices,  so  as  effectually 
to  prevent  the  escape  of  fluids.  Those  who  manufacture 
turpentine  and  rice  barrels  might  fiucl  these  plants  of  much 
service  in  this  respect  —  serving  the  purpose  much  better 
than  the  strips  of  wood  shaving  generally  employed  to  ren- 
der the  seams  tighter.  I  would  invite  further  attention  to 
the  Typha  for  the  several  purposes  alluded  to.  It  is  stated 
(Courier,  1863)  that  paper  is  made  from  this  plant  in  New 
York. 

Sparganium.  ramosum,  Huds.      )      Lagoons  and  ditches ; 

S.  Americqnum,  Ell.  /  Florida,  and  northward. 

The  herbage  of  the  branchy  species  of  burr-reed  {Sparga- 
nium) is  softer  and  more  pliant  than  that  of  the  reedy  plants, 
and  serves  well  in  combination  with  some  of  them  in  pack- 
ing. I  have  been  surprised  that  more  use  is  not  made  of 
such  plants  by  merchants  and  packers.  The  unripe  burr^ 
are  very  astringent;  a  strong  decoction  is  employed  for  va- 
rious purposes  as  an  astringent.  See  Darlington's  Flora 
Cestrica. 

ACORAC.E. 

Acorns  calamus,  L.  Sweet-flag;  calamus.  Diffused  in 
bogs  and  morasses ;  I  have  collected  it  in  Fairfield  and  in 
Charleston  districts;  vicinity  of  Charleston,  Bach;  ISTew- 
bern. 

Le.  Mat.  Med.  i,  251;  Pe.  Mat.  Med.  and  Therap.  ii,  76; 
Royle,  Mat.  Med.  602;  Hoffmann's  Obs.Phys.  Chim.  i,  obs. 
i;  Ell.  Bot.  Notes,  i,  403;  U.  S.  Disp.  145*;  Ed.  and  Vav. 
Mat.  Med.  281;  Ball,  and  Gar.  Mat.  Med.  431;  Bergii,  Mat. 
Med.  287;  M6r.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  63;  Woodv. 
35 


546 

Med.  Bot.;  Ann.  de  Chim.  lxxxi,  382;  Coxe,  Am.  Disp.  18; 
Shec.  Flora  Carol.  96.  This  is  a  very  pleasant,  aromatic 
stimulant  and  stomachic;  esteemed  as  a  stimulating  tonic 
in  atonic  conditions  of  the  stomach  and  bowels;  in  the 
East  as  a  powerful  aphrodisiac  and  carminative.  Ed.  and 
Yav.  state  that  it  has  been  administered  successfully  in  in- 
termittent fever:  "  On  l'a  beaucoup  vante  pour  combattre 
les  symptomes  cerebraux  qui  accompagnent  la  seconde  pe- 
riode  des  fievres  dites  ataxiques."  Dr.  Thompson  says,  from 
his  own  experience,  he  finds  it  one  of  the  most  useful  adju- 
vants to  bark  and  quinine ;  given  also,  combined  with  mag- 
nesia, in  the  flatulent  colics  of  infants.  In  the  Supplem.  to 
Mer.  and  de  L.  18-46,  10,  Dr.  Endelicher  assures  us  that  the 
root  is  an  excellent  remedy  in  chronic  gout:  "qu'elle  apaise 
les  douleurs,  qu'elle  assouplit  les  articulations" — adminis- 
tered in  powder,  from  eighteen  to  twenty  grains  every  two 
hours.  Annal.  de  Med.  and  note,  sur  quelques  plantes  de 
l'Aube,  Mem.  de  l'Aube,  1841.  The  fresh  root,  candied,  is 
said  to  have  been  employed  in  large  quantities  as  a  preserv- 
ative in  epidemic  diseases.  Thornton's  Fam.  Herb.  354. 
The  root  is  used  in  vertigo.  Linn.  Veg.  M.  Med.  64;  Grif- 
fith, Med.  Bot.  620.  See  Anal,  by  Trommsdorf ;  Ann.  Clin- 
ique,  xvii.  From  which  it  appears  to  contain  volatile  oil, 
resin,  extractive,  etc.  Thompson,  in  his  M.  Med.,  says  that 
the  oil  differs  from  other  volatile  oils  in  not  dissolving 
iodine. 

The  root  of  this  powerfully  aromatic  plant  is  much  used 
as  a  flavoring  substance  throughout  the  Western  states  for 
making  bitters,  particularly  the  compound  tincture  of  gen- 
tian. See  treatises  on  the  Mat.  Med.  "It  is  a  principal 
medicament  in  the  preparation  of  the  medicated  malt 
liquors  called  herb  ales,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  ingre- 
dient used  by  the  French  for  giving  flavor  to  their  snuff 
called  Lt  let  violette.  The  whole  plant  has  been  used  for  tan- 
ning leather,  and  in  Poland  it  is  strewed  on  the  floors  of 
the  upper  and  middle  classes  of  society  when  they  are 
about  to  receive  company,  in  order  that  the  leaves  may  be 
bruised  by  the  feet  of  the  guests,  and  fill  the  rooms  with 


)  i  547 

an  agreeable  odor."  Rural  Cyclopaedia,  p.  40.  The  dose 
of  the  root  is  from  ten  tq  twenty  grains.  An  infusion  of 
the  root  is  made  with  one  ounce  to  one  pint  of  boiling 
water.     Dose,  a  wineglassful. 

NaiadacEjE.     {The  Pond-weed  Tribe.) 
Zostera  marina,  L.     Eel-grass.     West  Florida,  and  north- 
ward; deep  salt  water  coves.     Chapman.     Not  in  any  cata- 
logue of  the  plants  in  St.  John's,  S.  C. 

This  marine  herb  with  creeping  stems  is  just  attracting 
great  attention  in  England  (1862)  as  a  substitute  for  cotton. 
The  result  is  doubtful,  as  the  amount  to  be  obtained  is 
perhaps  inadequate.  The  papers  are  filled  with  accounts 
of  the  plant. 

Substitutes  for  Cotton. — The  London  Index  says  : 
Some  new  "  substitute  for  cotton,"  which  is  to  cost  noth- 
ing, to  make  the  fortune  of  the  inventor,  and  to  reopen 
the  mills  of  Lancashire,  is  discovered  every  week.  The 
inventors  are  mostly  persons  who  know  nothing  of  cotton 
spinning,  and  they  forget,  invariably,  that  a  material  which 
costs  nothing  when  supposed  to  be  useless  and  gathered 
by  handfuls  might  become  almost  as  dear  as  silk  if  there 
were  a  manufacturing  demand  for  hundreds  of  millions  of 
pounds  weight  of  it.  The  following  remarks  by  a  "Med- 
allist in  Botany"  deserve  notice: 

"I  have  obtained  samples  of  most  of  the  fibres  proposed, 
and  I  have  submitted  them  to  careful  examination  under 
the  microscope.  I  find  them  all  to  be  varieties  of  woody 
fibre,  more  or  less  split  up  or  divided,  varying  in  the 
length  and  thickness  of  the  fibrillre.  The  fibres  of  all  the 
specimens  I  have  seen  are  nevertheless  uniform  in  the  fol- 
lowing particulars :  they  are  all  solid  and  inelastic  or  brittle, 
with  joints  and  rough  edges,  showing  where  the  bundles  of 
fibrillse  have  been  torn  apart.  Having  some  practical 
acquaintance  with  cotton*  spinning  and  weaving,  I  assert 
that  the  above  qualities  render  woody  fibre  unfitted  to  be 
used  as  a  substitute  for  cotton  without  a  considerable  mod- 
ification of  our  machinery.     The  fibres  which  have  been 


548  f 

exhibited  may  probably  be  useful  as  substitutes  for  linen, 
if  they  can  be  largely  produced  at  a  cheap  rate ;  but  the 
woody  fibre  (from  which  all  the  proposed  substitutes,  I  feel 
confident,  are  drawn)  can  never  be  a  perfect  substitute  for 
cotton,  which  consists  of  vegetable  hairs,  hollow,  elastic, 
ribbon  shaped,  and  spiral,  with  smooth  edges  and  surfaces. 
If  we  want  a  substitute  for  cotton  we  must  not  look  for  it 
in  woody  fibre." 

PiSTiACEiE.     ( The  Duckweed  Tribe.) 
Spirodelia polyrrhiza,  Schleid.  in  Kunth's  En.  PL  )    Water 
Lemma  "  W.  and  Ell.  Sk.  /  flaxseed. 

Santee  canal.     Fl.  July. 
Lightfoot's  Fl.  Scotica,  ii,  538.     The  "  leaves  sink  to  the 

bottom  of  the  water  in  winter  and  rise  in  the  spring."  The 

Lemna  or  duckweed  destroy  fish  by  covering  so  closely  the 

surface  of  ponds  as  to  exclude  the  air. 

Zea  Mays.  Maize ;  Indian  corn.  (Introduced  in  this 
place  irregularly.) 

Corn  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  nutritious  of  the  cerea- 
lia  with  which  man  has  been  blessed.  In  one  hundred 
pounds  of  corn  there  are  ten  of  oil ;  the  grain  and  meal 
are  prepared  in  a  great  variety  of  ways,  and  the  whole 
plant  adapted  to  many  useful  purposes  in  the  arts,  in  med- 
icine, and  in  domestic  economy.  The  article  Zea,  in  the 
Rural  Cyc,  is  full  of  information  compiled  from  numerous 
authorities  ;  he  refers  to  the  manufacture  of  coarse  paper 
from  the  husks.  Blade  tea  is  quite  a  favorite  diaphoretic 
used  recently  by  many  in  the  Confederate  States  in  fever — 
its  antipe^odic  properties  doubtful.  Corn  meal  rubbed 
into  fresh  meat  will  preserve  it  fresh  several  days  during 
hot  weather ;  a  light  covering  with  bran  or  a  series  of 
dustings  with  oatmeal  will  be  equally  efficient — methods 
so  easily  put  in  practice  that  a  knowledge  of  them  may 
prove  serviceable  at  present. 

In  the  Patent  Office  Reports,  1855,  p.  158,  there  is  a 
communication  on  "Bread  crops,"  on  the  value  and  use  of 


549 

the  maize  as  an  article  of  food,  on  its  preparation  for 
bread  in  place  of  wheat  flour,  and  on  the  ..economy  of  mix- 
ing rye  with  corn.  It  is  stated  from  a  foreign  report  that 
a  "bread  composed  of  two-thirds  rye  and  one-third  maize 
is  about  ten  per  cent,  cheaper  than  bread  made  of  pure 
rye."  A  method  is  given  to  prevent  the  souring  of  maize 
flour.  In  our  armies  it  is  a  universal  subject  of  complaint 
that  corn  meal,  or  flour,  is  not  given  to  the  soldiers  in  place 
of  wheat,  as  it  is  nutritious  and  much  more  easily  and 
better  cooked.  Besides,  the  Southern  soldier  is  for  the 
most  part  more  accustomed  to  corn  bread.  The  "Boston 
brown  bread,"  a  useful  hygienic  preparation,  contains  two 
parts  of  corn  to  one  of  rye  meal,  and  is  made  in  the  follow- 
ing manner:  "To  three  quarts  of  mixed  meal  are  added  a 
gill  of  molasses,  two  teaspoonfuls  of  salt,  one  teaspoonful 
of  saleratus,  and  either  a  teacupful  of  home-brewed  or  half 
a  teacupful  of  brewer's  yeast.  This  bread  continues  good 
and  wholesome  as  long  as  any  other  bread  is  usually  kept; 
but  like  other  preparations  of  corn  it  is  preferred  warm, 
and  is  generally  eaten  fresh,  or  after  being  toasted.  Like 
all  other  kinds  of  corn  bread  it  is  an  acceptable  substitute 
not  only  for  the  bread  made  of  other  grains  but  for  the 
vegetables  which  use  has  made  desirable  at  the  noonday 
meal."  ' 

A  chemical  analysis  of  the  corn-cobs  is  given  by  Prof. 
C.  T.  Jackson,  volume  Patent  Office  Reports,  1855,  p. 
163,  and  a  paper  on  green  corn  for  fodder,  p.  168.  It 
maybe  planted  as  a  substitute  for  northern  hay.  "The 
amount  of  green  food  which  may  thus  be  grown  under 
favorable  circumstances  seems  almost  incredible.  An  acre 
contains  forty-three  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty  square 
feet;  if,  therefore,  but  one  such  stalk  were  to  grow  upon 
each  foot,  there  would  be  over  seventy-six  tons  produced 
to  the  acre."  The  Northern  varieties  are  recommended  to 
be  planted  at  the  South  for  this  purpose.  Land  that  will 
produce  two  tons  of  hay  will  yield,  it  is  supposed,  ten  tons 
of  corn  fodder  for  leaves,  roots,  etc.,  suitable  for  man  and 
horse  in  periods  of  scarcity.  See  "Alopecurus"  and  uAn^ 
thoxanthum,"  in  this  volume. 


550 

Mr.  J.  H.  Salisbury,  in  a  prize  essay  published  by  the 
New  York  State.  Agricultural  Society,  and  quoted  in  Nor- 
ton's Elements  of  Practical  Agriculture,  states  that  there  is 
in  the  cob  of  this  grain  two  per  cent,  of  gluten  and  gum, 
and  one  or  two  per  cent,  of  sugar,  with  a  little  starch.  It 
has,  therefore,  some  importance  of  its  own  as  food.  In 
Patent  Office  Reports,  1848,  p.  355,  it  is  stated  in  a  report 
from  Richmond,  Massachusetts,  that  "corn-stalks,  well 
secured  and  cut  fine,  furnish  an  agreeable  and  healthy 
food  for  horses  and  neat  cattle ;  for  the  latter,  if  when  cut 
they  are  scalded  by  pouring  on  warm  water,  they  are 
almost  equal  to  what  they  are  when  green,  especially  for 
cows,  causing  them  to  produce  milk  of  almost  the  richness 
of  June.  They  are  worth  when  well  cured  six  dollars  per 
ton,  when  hay  is  worth  ten  dollars;  straw  is  worth  from 
four  dollars  and  fifty  cents  to  five  dollars  per  ton.  Large 
quantities  of  straw  are  annually  manufactured  into  paper, 
and  the  demand  for  this  purpose  probably  increases  its 
price  some  fifteen  or  twenty  per  cent." 

On  the  subject  of  general  economy,  in  absence  of  supply 
of  Northern  hay,  I  introduce  the  following  in  an  article  on 
corn-stalks  for  fodder  by  a  correspondent  of  the  Country 
Gentleman,  1861.  It  is  advised  to  be  cured,  cut  up  entire, 
and  fed  to  cattle.  The  editor  of  the  Southern  Field  and 
Fireside  says:  "For  the  last  six  years,  while  residing  on  a 
farm  in  Georgia,  we  have  followed  the  Northern  plan  of 
cutting  up  corn  near  the  ground,  curing  the  stalks  and 
corn  in  shocks,  then  husking  or  shucking  the  corn,  and 
feeding  the  stalks  and  blades  together.  This  we  regard  as 
much  better  economy  than  to  pull  fodder  and  leave  the 
whole  stalks  in  the  field.  If  we  had  many  cattle  to  feed, 
we  should  procure  a  machine  for  cutting  the  stalks,  steam 
them  a  little,  and  add  a  little  meal  of  some  kind.  .We  have 
fed  dairy  cows  in  this  way  with  satisfactory  results.  Good 
clover  hay  is  worth  more  than  any  corn  fodder  for  cows 
and  horses,  pound  for  pound."  See,  also,  same  paper,  May 
4,  1861,  for  article  on  cultivation  of  hay.  Corn-stalks  are 
also  very  useful  as  manure,  when  composted  with  a  little 


551 

caustic  lime,  as  it  is  a  plant-food  of  considerable  value. 
"Dr.  Spengle  found  eighty-eight  pounds  of  ashes  in  one 
thousand  pounds  of  corn-stalks.  Corn-cobs  are  rich  in 
potash,  and  yet  one  often  sees  them  wasted  in  wood-lots  or 
the  highway."  The  cob  yields  almost  as  much  ashes  as 
the  tobacco  plant. 

In  the  Richmond  Examiner,  1862,  a  lady  of  Fluvanna 
county,  Virginia,  communicates  the  following  substitute 
for  soda:  "To  the  ashes  of  corn-cobs  add  a  little  boiling 
water;  after  allowing  it  to  stand  for  a  few  minutes,  pour 
off*  the  lye,  which  can  be  used  at  once  with  an  acid  (sour 
milk  or  vinegar).  It  makes  the  bread  almost  as  light  as 
soda."  I  have  seen  this  preparation  made  and  used  in  St. 
John's,  South  Carolina,  1862.  It  is,  strictly  speaking,  a 
potash  mixture,  has  precisely  the  taste  of  a  strong  solution 
of  bi-carbonate  of  potash,  and  could  be  used  in  cough  mix- 
tures to  correct  acidity,  and  wherever  an  alkaline  solution 
is  required.  It  would  also  serve  the  purposes  of  "concen- 
trated lye."  The  bread  made  with  it  is  excellent.  For 
manufacture  of  soda,  see  "Salsola  kali." 

An  economical  mode  of  making  soap  with  corn-shucks, 
which  a  correspondent  in  the  Southern  Field  and  Fireside, 
March  8,  1862,  saj-s  "has  been  tried  and  approved  by  sev- 
eral persons,"  I  insert  as  follows:  "Take  one  gallon  of 
strong  lye,  add  a  half-pound  of  shucks,  cut  up  fine.  Let 
the  shucks  boil  in  the  lye  until  they  are  reduced  to  shreds. 
Then  fish  the  shreds  out,  and  put  half  a  pound  of  crack- 
ling grease  in,  or  six  ounces  of  lard,  and  boil  until  it  is 
sufficiently  thick  to  make  good  soap."  The  amount  of 
potash  in  the  blade  and  shuck  of  corn  observed  in  the  table 
I  have  inserted  from  Ure's  Dictionary  may  explain  the 
value  of  this  substance.  I  am  informed  that  soap  has  been 
made  satisfactorily  from  the  corn-shuck,  as  above  described, 
in  Sumter  district,  South  Carolina.  I  will  add  the  follow- 
ing: to  make  twenty  pounds  of  cheap,  hard  soap  from 
four  pounds,  the  Southern  Field  and  Fireside  directs  four 
pounds  of  turpentine  soap,  half-pound  of  soda,  add  two 
gallons  of  water,  boil  ten  minutes,  add  a  spoonful  of  salt, 


552 

and  boil  ten  minutes  more.  I  insert  the  following,  believ- 
ing that  the  ashes  of  the  corn-cob,  on  account  of  the  potash 
it  contains,  would  serve  in  place  of  those  from  hickory: 

Preserving  Meat. — Ashes  prepared  from  green  hickory 
wood,  combined  with  salt  in  the  proportion  of  one-third  to 
two-thirds  by  measurement,  and  applied  in  the  ordinary  way 
of  salting  meat,  in  ordinary  quantity,  will  save  pork  fully 
as  well  as  salt  alone,  and  give  a  delicacy  of  flavor  to  bacon 
made  from  it  which  saltpetre  or  sugar  pickle  will  not  im- 
part. Mix  the  ashes  and  salt  thoroughly,  in  the  above 
proportions,  and  use  the  mixture  as  salt  alone  is  commonly 
used.  There  is  no  experiment  in  this,  and  no  one  need 
hesitate  to  rely  on  it. 

Beer  may  be  made  from  corn  thus :  "  Take  one  pint  of 
corn  and  boil  it  until  it  is  soft,  add  to  it  a  pint  of  molasses 
and  one  gallon  of  water ;  shake  them  well  together  and 
set  it  by  the  fire,  and  in  twenty -four  hours  the  beer  will  be 
excellent.  When  all  the  beer  of  the  jug  is  used  add 
more  molasses  and  water.  The  same  corn  will  answer  for 
months,  and  the  beer  will  be  fit  for  use  in  twelve  hours  by 
keeping  the  jug  where  it  is  warm.  In  this  way  the  ingre- 
dients used  in  making  a  gallon  of  beer  will  not  cost  over 
six  cents,  and  it  is  better  and  more  wholesome  than  cider. 
A  little  yeast  greatly  forwards  the  working  of  the  beer:" 
Agricultural  paper.  To  make  small  beer :  "  Nine  quarts  of 
water,  three  pints  of  bran,  and  a  few  hops ;  strain  and  cool 
to  milk-warm,  then  put  in  a  few  raisins,  one  pint  of  mo- 
lasses, let  them  stand  one  night,  and  strain  and  bottle  it." 

An  excellent  substitute  for  coffee. — For  a  familj-  of  seven  or 
eight  persons,  take  a  pint  of  well  toasted  corn  meal  and  add 
to  it  as  much  water  as  an  ordinary  sized  coffee-pot  will 
hold,  and  then  boil  it  well.  We  have  tried  this  toasted 
meal  coffee,  and  prefer  it.  Many  persons  eannot  drink 
coffee  with  impunity,  and  we  advise  all  such  to  try  the 
receipt.  They  will  find  it  more  nutritious  than  coffee,  and 
quite  as  palatable.  The  above  is  from  a  correspondent  of 
the  Raleigh  Register.  See  rice  (Oryza  sativa)  for  the  use 
of  corn  and  rice  as  substitutes  for  coffee. 


553 

The  "newspapers"  (1862)  continue  to  report  that  "blade 
tea"  is  excellent  in  fevers,  and  that  "raw  corn  m.eal,  mixed 
with  water  to  drink,  removes  superfluous  bile  and  cures 
fever!"  "  Green  corn  and  wheat  make  useful  starch,  and 
rice  starch  gives  lawns  and  colored  articles  a  look  of  new- 
ness unsurpassed." 

Oil  of  a  fine  quality  is  manufactured  from  corn.  "It  is 
said  to  burn  with  a  clear,  steady  light,  in  every  respect 
equal  to  sperm  or  lard  oil,  without  the  smoke  which  usually 
attends  vegetable  oils,  and  will  not  congeal  in  the  coldest 
weather."  A  liquor,  well  known  as  corn  whiskey,  is  also 
distilled  from  t^e  fermented  grain. 

Thaer  says  "The  use  of  unripe  maize  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  sugar  has  lately  been  again  recommended,  on  the 
ground  that  maize  is  better  adapted  for  this  purpose  than 
beet  root.  I  have  long  been  of  opinion  that  of  all  plants 
which  can  be  raised  in  this  country,  maize  is  better  suited 
to  the  purpose  in  question ;  the  syrup  extracted  from  it  is 
before  crystallization  decidedly  superior  to  that  of  the  beet 
root."  Principles  of  Agriculture,  p.  485.  In  the  Confed- 
erate, States  where  the  sugar-canes  have  been  so  generally 
introduced  the  problem  may  be  differently  solved.  As 
it  may  become  a  matter  of  great  interest  I  insert  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Making  sugar  of  corn. — Extracts  from  the  remarks  on  the 
manufacture  of  corn  sugar,  by  Wm.  Webb,  of  Wilmington, 
Delaware,  May,  1862 : 

The  raw  juice  of  maize,  when  cultivated  for  sugar, 
marks  10°  on  the  saccharometer,  while  the  average  of 
cane  juice  (as  I  am  informed)  is  not  higher  than  8°,  and 
beet  juice  not  over  3°.  From  nine  and  three-quarter 
quarts  (dry  measure)  of  the  former  I  have  obtained  four 
pounds  six  ounces  of  syrup  concentrated  to  the  point  suit- 
able for  crystallization.  The  proportion  of  crystallizable 
sugar  appears  to  be  larger  than  is  obtained  from  cane  juice 
in  Louisiana.  This  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  our 
climate  ripens  corn  perfectly,  while  it  but  rarely  if  ever 
happens  that  cane  is  fully  matured.     In    some   cases  the 


554 

syrup  has  crystallized  so  completely  that  less  than  one-sixth 
part  of  molasses  remained.  This,  however,  only  happened 
after  it  had  stood  one  to  two  months.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  if  the  plant  were  fully  ripe,  and  the  process  of 
manufacture  perfectly  performed,  the  syrup  might  be  en- 
tirely crystallized  without  forming  any  molasses.  Without 
any  other  means  for  pressing  out  the  juice  than  a  small 
hand  mill,  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  great  a  quantity  of 
sugar  may  be  produced  on  an  acre  ;  but  the  calculations 
made  from  trials  on  a  small  scale  leave  no  room  to  doubt 
the  quantity  of  sugar  will  be  from  eight  hundred  to  one 
thousand  pounds.  • 

I  have  been  informed  by  Mr.  Ellsworth  that  Monsieur 
Pallas,  of  France,  had  discovered  in  1839  that  the  saccha- 
rine properties  of  maize  were  increased  by  merely  taking 
off  the  ear  in  its  embryo  state.  An  experiment,  however, 
which  I  instituted  to  determine  the  value  of  this  plan 
resulted  in  disappointment.  The  quantity  of  sugar  pro- 
duced was  not  large  enough  to  render  it  an  object.  The 
reasons  of  this  failure  will  be  sufficiently  obvious  on 
stating  the  circumstances.  It  was  found  that  taking  the 
ear  off  a  large  stalk,  such  as  is  produced  by  the  common 
mode  of  cultivation,  inflicted  a  considerable  wound  upon 
the  plant,  which  injured  its  health,  and  of  course  lessened 
its  productive  power.  It  was  also  found  that  the  natural 
disposition  to  form  grain  was  so  strong  that  several  succes- 
sive ears  were  thrown  out,  by  which  labor  was  increased 
and  the  injuries  to  the  plant  multiplied.  Lastly,  it  ap- 
peared that  the  juice  yielded  from  those  plants  contained  a 
considerable  portion  of  a  foreign  substance  not  favorable 
to  the  object  in  view.  Yet,  under  all  these  disadvantages, 
from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  pounds  of  sugar  per 
acre  may  be  obtained.  The  manifest  objections  detailed 
above  suggested  another  mode  of  cultivation,  to  be  em- 
ployed in  combination  with  the  one  first  proposed.  It 
consists  simply  in  raising  a  greater  number  of  plants  on 
the  same  space  of  ground.  By  this  plan  all  the  unfavor- 
able results  above  mentioned  were  obviated,  a  much  larger 


555 

quantity  of  sugar  was  produced,  and  of  a  better  quality. 
The  juice  produced  by  this  mode  of  cultivation  is  remark- 
ably pure  and  agreeable  to  the  taste.  The  sweetness  of 
the  corn-stalk  is  a  matter  of  universal  observation.  Our 
forefathers,  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle  resorted  to  it  as 
a  means  to  furnish  a  substitute  for  West  India  sugar. 
They  expressed  the  juice  and  exerted  their  ingenuity  in 
efforts  to  bring  it  to  a  crystallized  state ;  but  we  have  no 
account  of  any  successful  operation  of  the  kind.  In  fact, 
the  bitter  and  nauseous  properties  contained  in  the  joints  of 
large  stalks  render  the  whole  amount  of  juice  from  them 
fit  only  to  produce  an  inferior  kind  of  molasses.  I  found 
on  experiment  that  b}^  cutting  out  the  joints,  and  crushing 
the  remaining  part  of  the  stalk,  sugar  might  be  made,  but 
still  of  an  inferior  quality.  The  molasses,  of  which  there 
was  a  large  proportion,  was  bitter  and  disagreeable. 

From  one  to  two  feet  of  the  lower  part  of  these  stalks 
was  full  of  juice,  but  the  balance,  as  it  approached  the  top, 
became  dryer  and  afforded  but  little.  From  the  foregoing 
experiments  we  see  that  in  order  to  obtain  the  purest 
juice  and  the  greatest  quantity  we  must  adopt  a  mode  of 
cultivation  which  will  prevent  the  large  and  luxuriant 
growth  of  the  stalk.  The  planting  should  be  done  with  a 
drilling  machine.  One  man,  with  a  pair  of  horses  and  an 
instrument  of  this  kind,  will  plant  and  cover  in  the  most 
perfect  manner  from  ten  to  twelve  acres  in  a  day;  the  rows 
(if  practicable,  let  them  run  North  and  South)  two  and  a 
half  feet  apart,  and  the  seed  dropped  sufficiently  thick  in 
the  row  to  insure  a  plant  every  two  or  three  inches.  A 
large  harrow,  made  with  teeth  arranged  so  as  not  to  injure 
the  corn,  may  be  used  with  advantage  soon  after  it  is  up. 
The  after  culture  is  performed  with  a  cultivator,  and  here 
will  be  perceived  one  of  the  great  advantages  of  drilling; 
the  plants  all  growing  in  lines,  perfectly  regular  and 
straight  with  each  other,  the  horse-hoe  stirs  the  earth  and 
cuts  the  weeds  close  by  every  one,  so  that  no  hand-hoeing 
will  be  required  in  any  part  of  the  cultivation.  It  is  part 
of  the  system  of  cane-planting  in  Louisiana  to  raise  as  full 


556 

a  stand  of  cane  upon  the  ground  as  possible,  experience 
having  proved  that  the  most  sugar  is  obtained  from  the 
land  in  this  way.  As  far  as  my  experience  has  gone,  the 
same  thing  is  true  of  corn. 

The  next  operation  is  taking  off  the  ears.  Many  stalks 
will  not  produce  any;  but  whenever  they  appear  they 
must  be  removed.  Any  time  before  the  formation  of  grain 
upon  them  will  be  soon  enough.  Nothing  further  is  neces- 
sary to  be  done  until  the  crop  is  ready  to  be  cut  for  grind- 
ing. The  stalks  should  be  topped  and  bladed  while  stand- 
ing in  the  field.  They  are  then  cut,  tied  in  bundles,  and 
taken  to  the  mill.  The  mills  used  for  grinding  the  Chinese 
sugar  corn  will  answer  every  purpose.  The  tops  and  blades 
when  properly  cured  make  an  excellent  fodder. 

On  the  whole,  there  appears  ample  encouragement  for 
perseverance.  Every  step  in  the  investigation  has  increased 
the  probability  of  success,  no  evidence  having  been  discov- 
ered why  it  should  not  succeed  as  well  if  not  better  on  a 
large  scale  than  it  has  done  on  a  small  one. 

1.  In  the  first  place  it  has  been  satisfactorily  proved  that 
sugar  of  an  excellent  quality,  suitable  for  common  use 
without  refining,  may  be  made  from  the  stalks  of  maize. 

2.  That  the  juice  of  this  plant,  when  cultivated  in  a 
certain  manner,  contains  saccharine  matter  remarkably 
free  from  foreign  substances. 

3.  The  quantity  of  this  juice  (even  supposing  we  had  no 
other  evidence  about  it)  is  sufficiently  demonstrated  by  the 
great  amount  of  nutritive  grain  which  it  produces  in  the 
natural  course  of  vegetation.  It  is  needless  to  expatiate  on 
the  vast  advantages  which  would  result  from  the  introduc- 
tion of  this  manufacture  into  our  country. 

The  process  which  has  been  employed  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  maize  sugar  is  as  follows :  the  juice,  after  coming 
from  the  mill,  stood  for  a  short  time  to  deposit  some  of  its 
coarser  impurities.  It  was  then  poured  off,  and  passed 
through  a  flannel  strainer,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  such  mat- 
ter as  could  be  separated  in  this  way.  Lime-water,  called 
milk  of  lime,  was  then  added,  in  the  proportion  of  one  or 


557 

two  tablespoonfuls  to  the  gallon.  It  is  said  by  sugar  man- 
ufacturers that  knowledge  on  this  point  can  only  be 
acquired  by  experience  ;  but  I  have  never  failed  in  making 
sugar  from  employing  too  much  or  too  little  of  the  lime. 
A  certain  portion  of  this  substance,  however,  is  undoubt- 
edly necessary,  and  more  or  less  than  this  will  be  injurious, 
but  no  precise  directions  can  be  given  about  it.  The  juice 
was  then  placed  over  the  fire  and  brought  nearly  to  the 
boiling  point,  when  it  was  carefully  skimmed,  taking  care 
to  complete  this  operation  before  ebullition  cMmenced. 
It  was  then  boiled  down  rapidly,  removing  the  lum  as  it 
rose.  The  juice  was  examined  from  time  to  time,  and  if 
there  was  any  appearance  of  feculent  particles  which  would 
not  rise  to  the  surface  it  was  again  passed  through  a  flan- 
nel strainer.  In  judging  when  the  syrup  is  sufficiently 
boiled  a  portion  was  taken  between  the  thumb  and  finger, 
and  if  when  moderately  cool  a  thread  half  an  inch  long 
could  be  drawn  it  was  considered  to  be  done,  and  poured 
into  broad,  shallow  vessels  to  crystallize.  In  some  cases 
crystallization  commenced  in  twelve  hours ;  in  others  not 
till  after  several  days ;  and  in  no  case  was  this  process  so 
far  completed  as  to  allow  the  sugar  to  be  drained  in  less 
than  three  weeks  from  the  time  of  boiling.  The  reason 
why  so  great  a  length  of  time  was  required  I  have  not  yet 
discovered.  There  is  no  doubt  that  an  improved  process 
of  manufacture  will  cause  it  to  granulate  as  quickly  as  any 
other. 

The  stripping  the  ears  from  the  corn  is  esteemed  by  some 
essential  in  the  production  of  sugar,  though  not  in  the  pro- 
duction of  a  much  smaller  quantity  of  excellent  molasses. 
The  principal  labor  consists  in  stripping  off  the  leaves, 
which  should  be  done  before  the  stalks  are  cut.  Dr.  Wau- 
dain,  of  Delaware,  says  (So.  Cult.  p.  26,  vol.  i)  that  the 
corn  should  be  planted  as  broom-corn  is  commonly  planted 
— very  close  in  the  row,  probably  a  stalk  every  four  inches. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  French  Academy  M.  Biot  read  the 
report  of  a  committee,  which  paper  contained  the  follow- 
ing statements :  of  the  corn-stalks  experimented  upon  the 


558 

ears  had  been  removed  from  one  portion  and  left  to  grow 
on  others.  The  juice  obtained  from  the  stalks  which  had 
been  castrated  yielded  twelve  per  cent,  of  sugar ;  that  ex- 
pressed from  the  stalks  on  which  the  ears  had  been  permit- 
ted to  grow  thirteen  per  cent. ;  so  that  so  far  as  France  is 
concerned  the  results  of  former  experiments  may  be  fal- 
lacious. "The  juice  of  maize  contains  as  much  if  not 
a  larger  proportion  of  sugar  than  that  of  sugar-cane." 
Farmer's  Encyc. 

The  r«fter  interested  will  find  the  several  numbers  of 
Southen*Cultivator,  vols,  i,  ii,  iii,  and  iv.  See  pp.  17, 
19,  and  25,  aud  90  of  vol.  i,  a  large  number  of  papers  on 
this  subject.  I  regret  that  I  can  only  refer  to  them.  Hun- 
dreds of  pounds  of  sugar  were  made  by  several  persons. 
Six  hundred  to  six  thousand  pounds  can  be  made  from  one 
acre.  It  must  be  far  easier  to  ciystallize  than  that  from 
sorghum.  It  has  been  advised  to  take  off  the  tassel  instead 
of  the  ear  in  order  to  increase  the  saccharine  principle. 
Twenty-five  gallons  of  juice  make  four  gallons  of  syrup,  and 
a  gallon  of  juice  will  produce  one  and  one-quarter  pounds 
of  sugar.  The  corn  is  not  lost  as  fodder,  and  the  salted 
refuse  is  also  good.  The  boiling  of  the  syrup  should  be 
commenced  immediately  after  the  corn  is  cut.  The  high 
price  of  sugar  and  molasses  adds  increased  importance  to 
this  subject.  I  obtain  the  following  from  the  Louisville 
Courier : 

Paper. — The  manufacture  of  paper  from  the  leaves  of 
Indian  corn  is  becoming  extensive  in  Austria.  The  paper 
is  said  to  be  tougher  than  ordinary  paper  made  from  rags, 
while  it  is  almost  wholly  free  from  silica,  which  makes 
paper  produced  from  straw  so  brittle. 

If  the  above  be  true  it  is  a  discovery  of  immense  impor- 
tance to  the  United  States.  We  consume  more  paper  than 
any  other  nation,  and  have  Indian  corn  to  make  it  of.  If 
Indian  corn  paper  be  tougher  than  rag  or  straw  paper  it  is 
just  what  we  need,  and  our  already  monstrous  corn  crop, 
which  in  1850  was  592,071,000  bushels  to  100,485,000  bush- 
els of  wheat,  and  is  mainly  devoted  to  feeding  our  immense 


559 

herds  of  live  stock,  will  be  greatly  extended,  and  paper  go 
down  in  price. 

Paper,  from  Indian  corn  leaves. — The  London  Daily  Tele- 
graph gives  the  following  account  of  paper-making  from 
Indian  corn  leaves,  which  promises  to  make  a  revolution  in 
the  paper  business  if  only  half  is  true  that  is  stated,  and 
we  do  not  see  any  reason  to  doubt  its  correctness : 

"Recent  experiments  have  proved  Indian  corn  to  possess 
not  only  all  the  qualities  necessary  to  make  a  good  article, 
but  to  be  in  many  respects  superior  to  rags.  The  discovery 
to  which  we  allude  is  a  complete  success,  and  may  be  ex- 
pected to  exercise  the  greatest  influence  upon  the  price 
of  paper.  Indian  corn,  in  countries  of  a  certain  degree  of 
temperature,  can  be  easily  cultivated  to  a  degree  more 
than  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  utmost  demands  of  the  paper 
market.  Besides,  as  rags  are  likely  to  fall  in  price  owing 
to  the  extensive  supply  resulting  from  this  new  element, 
the  world  of  writers  and  readers  would  seem  to  have  a 
brighter  future  before  it  than  the  boldest  fancy  would  have 
imagined  a  short  time  ago. 

"  This  is  not  the  first  time  that  paper  has  been  manufac- 
tured from  the  blade  of  Indian  corn ;  but  strange  to  say, 
the  art  was  lost,  and  required  to  be  discovered  anew.  As 
early  as  the  seventeenth  century  an  Indian  corn  paper 
manufactory  was  in  full  operation  at  the  town  of  Bievi,  in 
Italy,  and  enjoyed  a  world-wide  reputation  at  the  time ; 
but  with  the  death  of  its  proprietor  it  seems  to  have  lapsed 
into  oblivion.  Attempts  subsequently  made  to  continue 
the  manufacture  were  baffled  by  the  difficulty  of  removing 
the  flint,  and  resinous,  and  glutinous  matter  contained  in 
the  blade.  The  recovery  of  the  process  has  at  last  been 
effected,  and  is  due  to  the  cleverness  of  one  Herr  Moritz 
Diamant,  a  Jewish  writing  master  in  Austria,  and  the  trial 
of  his  method  on  a  grand  scale,  which  was  made  at  the 
Imperial  manufactory  of  Schlogelmuhle,  near  Grlognitz, 
Lower  Austria,  has  completely  demonstrated  the  certainty 
of  the  invention.  Although  the  machinery,  arranged  as  it 
was  for  the  manufacture  of  rag  paper,  could  not  of  course 


560 

fully  answer  the  requirements  of  Herr  Diamant,  the  results 
of  the  essay  were  wonderfully  favorable.  The  article  pro- 
duced was  of  a  purity  of  texture  and  whiteness  of  color 
that  left  nothing  to  be  desired;  and  this  is  all  the  more 
valuable  from  the  difficulty  usually  experienced  in  the 
removal  of  impurities  from  rags.  The  proprietor  of  the 
invention  is  Count  Carl  Octavio  Zu  Lippe  "Wessenfeld,  and 
several  experiments  give  the  following  results : 

"1.  It  is  not  ouly  possible  to  produce  every  variety  of 
paper  from  the  blades  of  Indian  corn,  but  the  product  is 
equal  and  in  some  respects  even  superior  to  the  article 
manufactured  from  rags. 

"  2.  The  paper  requires  but  very  little  size  to  render  it  fit 
for  writing  purposes,  as  the  pulp  naturally  contains  a  large 
proportion  of  that  necessary  ingredient,  which  can  at  the 
same  time  be  easily  eliminated  if  desirable. 

"3.  The  bleaching  is  effected  by  an  extraordinarily  rapid 
and  facile  process,  and  indeed  for  the  common  light-col- 
ored packing  paper  the  process  becomes  entirely  unneces- 
sary. 

u4.  The  Indian  corn  paper  possesses  greater  strength 
and  tenacity  than  rag  paper,  without  the  drawback  of 
brittleness,  so  conspicuous  in  the  common  straw  products. 

f  5.  No  machinery  being  required  in  the  manufacture  of 
this  paper  for  the  purpose  of  tearing  up  the  raw  material 
and  reducing  it  to  pulp,  the  expense  both  in  point  of  power 
and  time  is  far  less  than  is  necessary  for  the  production  of 
rag  paper. 

"Count  Lippe  having  put  himself  in  communication 
with  the  Austrian  Government  an  Imperial  manufactory  for 
Indian  corn  paper  (maishalm  papier,  as  the  inventor  calls  it) 
is  now  in  course  of  construction  at  Pesth,  the  capital  of 
the  greatest  Indian  corn-growing  country  in  Europe.  An- 
other manufactory  is  already  in  full  operation  in  Switzer- 
land, and  preparations  are  being  made  on  the  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean  for  the  production  and  exportation  on  a 
large  scale  of  the  pulp  of  this  new  material." 

Manufactures  from  corn-shucks. — A  foreigner  has  filed  his 


561 

application  in  Washington  (with  specimens)  for  a  patent 
for  various  uses  made  of  maize  shucks.  The  varieties 
include  yarn,  maize  cloth,  paper  of  beautiful  qualities 
(white  and  colored),  from  silk  to  parchment  texture,  maize 
flour,  etc. 

Soap  it  is  said  can  be  made  from  corn-shucks  by  pouring 
strong  lye  over  them,  boiling,  taking  out  the  strings,  and 
supplying  more  material. 

Graminace^e.     (The  Grass  Tribe.) 
Well  known  for  their  great  value  for  many  purposes. 

Anthoxanthum  odoratum,  L.  Probably  imported;  found 
near  Savannah  river,  and  around  Charleston. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  316  and  514.  It  has 
been  used  as  a  tonic  and  cordial.  The  fragrance,  according 
to  the  analyses  of  Vogel,  depends  upon  the  presence  of  ben- 
zoic acid.     Lind.  Hat.  Syst.  319. 

This  grass,  as  well  as  JSolcus  odoratus,  contains  benzoic  acid 
(Wilson).  It  is  thought  to  improve  the  quality  of  mutton. 
"From  its  dwarfy  growth,  and  the  close  sward  it  forms,  it  is 
recommended  to  be  sown  on  lawns  or  ornamental  grounds." 
In  Patent  Office  Reports  on  Agriculture,  1854,  p.  22,  some 
information  is  given  concerning  some  of  the  best  grasses 
for  pasturage  suitable  to  this  country. 

The  spurry  (Spergula  arvensis)  is  introduced,  but  grows 
abundantly  in  our  fields.  In  Germany  and  France  it  is 
much  cultivated  as  a  winter  pasturage  for  cattle;  mutton, 
as  also  the  milk  and  butter  of  cows  fed  with  it,  are  stated 
by  Thaer  to  be  of  very  superior  quality.  It  is  usually  sown 
on  stubble  fields  after  the  grain  crops  have  been  removed. 
"But  the  principal  use  to  which  this  plant  can  be  applied 
in  this  country  is  as  a  green  manure  on  poor,  dry,  sandy, 
or  worn  out  soils."  See  article  cited.  See,  also,  in  Patent 
Office  Reports,  Agriculture,  p.  187,  an  account  of  the  couch- 
grass  (Triticum  repens),  by  C.  E.  Potter,  of  I^ew  Hampshire: 
"It  is  a  stocky,  hardy,  sweet  plant,  and  if  properly  cut  and 
cured  will  command  a  higher  price  in  the  market  where  it 
36 


562 

is  known  than  the  herds'-grass  or  timothy."  Besides,  it  is 
easily  propagated  from  roots  on  poor  lands — even  on  pine 
plains.  It  is  very  difficult,  however,  to  eradicate.  The  writ- 
er states  that  is  heavier  than  any  other  grass  when  dried, 
and  will  produce  more  weight  of  fodder  upon  a  given  space. 
The  reader  interested  in  the  best  grasses  to  be  planted 
for  hay  to  supply  the  loss  of  Northern  hay  can  consult  arti- 
cle on  "Textile  and  Forage  Crops,"  Patent  Office  Reports, 
1855,  p.  252.  See,  also,  Patent  Office  Reports,  308, 1858,  on 
the  cutting  and  curing  of  hay.  The  Southern  planter  can 
here  obtain  information  which  may  aid  him  in  substituting 
native  for  the  imported.  There  are  two  grasses  planted  in 
Holland  that  I  think  fit  to  cite  here,  as  they  may  be  made 
useful  where  drainage  is  employed,  or  banks  formed  to  pre- 
vent the  encroachment  of  water,  viz :  the  sand  or  sea-side 
lime  grass  (Elymus  arenarius),  which  Sir  H.  Davy  found  to 
contain  one-third  of  its  weight  of  sugar,  hence  called  the 
"sugar-cane  of  Great  Britain."  It  is  too  hard  and  coarse 
to  be  eaten  by  animals,  unless  cut  up.  "The  purpose  for 
which  this  plant  is  generally  employed,  and  for  which  its 
creeping,  matted  roots  fit  it  in  an  eminent  degree,  is  for 
binding  loose  sands  when  sown  with  the  sea-reed  (Arundo 
arenaria),  to  prevent  the  encroachment  of  the  sea.  The 
world  renowned  dikes  of  Holland  owe  much  of  their 
strength  and  durability  to  the  protection  afforded  by  these 
remarkable  plants."  See  Patent  Office  Reports,  1854,  p. 
26.  We  have  two  species  of  Elymus  growing  within  the 
Confederate  States.  See  article  "After  grass"  in  Wilson's 
Rural  Cyc,  for  method  of  raising  grass  and  hay  to  advan- 
tage, procuring  a  double  crop,  the  combination  of  grasses, 
etc.  Law's  Practical  Agriculture,  and  Loudon's  Encyc.  of 
Agriculture;  Wilson's  articles  "Agricultural  seeds"  and 
"  Grasses,"  " Agrostis"  etc.;  Sinclair's  Hortus  Grameneus 
Wobernensis,  and  Richardson's  Essay  on  Fiorin  (fiorin  is  pro- 
duced from  an  aquatic  grass,  Agrostis  stolonifera  longiflord). 
Alopecurns  pratejisis,  meadow  or  tall  grass,  which  is  found 
in  the  Confederate  States,  is  much  cultivated  as  a  grass  in 
Europe ;  it  is  much  relished  by  horses  and  cattle.     For  wet 


563 

soils  Agrostis,  and  the  Poa  can  be  cultivated  with  great  ad- 
vantage, furnishing  the  greatest  yield.  In  England  they 
plant  a  mixture  of  the  most  valuable  grasses  upon  scientific 
principles,  upon  land  ill  adapted  for  any  other  product,  using 
lime,  etc.  See  article  cited,  also  Rural  Cyc,  article  "Barren 
soils,"  for  plants  best  adapted  to  such  soils.  See,  also,  Ben- 
zoin." The  Agrostis  stolonifera  latifolia  (Fiorin)  is  considered 
by  many  in  England  as  the  best  and  most  productive  grass 
to  sow  on  wet  meadows ;  it  is  said  to  yield  enormous  crops, 
and  it  vegetates  during  the  cold  portions -of  the  year.  It 
has  been  a  subject  of  much  discordant  opinion.  See  Rich- 
ardson's Essay  on  Agriculture,  and  his  Memoir  on  "Fiorin 
grass." 

"Wilson,  in  his  Rural  Cyc,  article  "Food  of  Animals," 
gives  a  list  of  the  plants  which  are  entirely  avoided  by  all 
animals;  also  the  leaves  of  certain  trees  and  plants  which 
can  be  used  as  substitutes  for  hay,  when  it  is  scarce,  as  fol- 
lows: the  leaves  of  elm,  mulberry,  ash,  hornbeam;  the 
lime  trees  (Tiliri),  the  common  maple  and  sycamore;  the 
common  acacia  (Robinia  pseudacacia) ;  the  willows,  the 
poplars,  the  birches,  beeches,  plane  trees,  chesnuts,  oaks, 
dogwood  (Cornus);  hazel  (Corylus) ;  furze  (Ulex),  and  the 
vine  are  frequently  used,  he  says,  for  this  purpose  on  the 
Continent,  in  places  where  they  happen  to  be  plentiful. 
The  green  leaves  of  a  tolerably  large  number  of  vegetables 
are  annually  cultivated  on  a  large  scale,  either  as  food  for 
man  or  for  cattle,  such  as  the  leaves  of  maize,  beet  root, 
cabbage,  carrot,  parsnip,  potato,  and  some  others,  all  of 
which  may  be  used  for  this  purpose.  Op.  cit.  So,  also,  the 
roots  of  a  great  many  plants — the  turnip,  carrot,  etc. 

In  our  present  difficulty  of  obtaining  provisions  for  man 
and  horse,  many  of  these  articles  might  be  obtained  by  sol- 
diers, detailed  for  the  purpose  from  regiments  in  the  service, 
particularly  for  the  use  of  the  cavalry  horses.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  know  precisely  what  are  the  leaves  or  roots 
which  are  edible.  See  uZea."  Consult  Rural  Cyc,  articles 
"Grasses,"  "Hay,"  "Hay -making,"  for  much  information 
on  forage  crops  and  grasses,  etc. 


564 

Lolium  temulerdum,  L.  Bearded  darnel,  Kyle.  Grain 
fields  of  North  Carolina.     (Chap.) 

Johnston,  in  his  "Chemistry  of  Common  Life,"  vol.  ii, 
classes  this  among  the  intoxicating  substances  that  are 
liable  to  get  mixed  up  with  rye  or  wheat,  and  render  it 
poisonous.  It  "creeps  occasionally  into  our  fermented 
liquors  and  our  bread."  It  grows  abundantly  in  corn- 
fields, and  is  cut  with  the  grain.  "They  have  been  long 
known  to  possess  narcotic  and  singularly  intoxicating  prop- 
erties. When  malted  along  with  barley,  which  when  the 
grain  is  ill  cleaned  sometimes  unintentionally  happens,  they 
impart  their  intoxicating  quality  to  the  beer,  and  render  it 
unusually  and  even  dangerously  heady.  When  ground  up 
with  wheat  and  made  into  bread  -they  produce  a  similar 
effect,  especially  if  the  bread  be  eaten  hot.  Many  instan- 
ces are  on  record  in  which  effects  of  this  kind,  sometimes 
amusing,  and  sometimes  alarming,  have  been  produced  by 
the  unintentional  consumption  of  darnellecl  bread  or  beer. 
A  recent  case  occurred,  on  Christmas  day,  1853,  at  Roscrea, 
in  Ireland,  where  several  families,  containing  not  less  than 
thirty  persons,  were  poisoned  by  eating  darnel  flour  in 
their  whole  meal  bread.  They  were  attacked  by  giddiness, 
staggering,  violent  tremors,  similar  to  those  experienced  in 
the  delirium  tremens  produced  by  intoxicating  liquors,  viz: 
impaired  vision,  coolness  of  the  skin  and  extremities,  par- 
tial paralysis,  and  in  some  cases  vomiting.  By  the  use  of 
emetics  and  stimulants,  all  were  recovered,  though  greatly 
prostrated  in  strength.  The  narcotic  principle  in  these 
seeds  has  not  yet  been  discovered.  When  distilled  with 
water  they  yield  a  light  and  a  heavy  volatile  oil;  but  that 
the  narcotic  virtue  resides  in  these  oils  has  not  yet  been 
shown.  No  volatile  alkali  like  the  nicotin  of  tobacco  has 
been  detected  in  the  water  and  oils  which  distilled  over." 
Page  148. 

Wilson,  in  his  Rural  Cyc,  affirms  the  highly  dangerous 
properties  of  the  darnel.  Its  seeds  being  about  the  same 
size  as  wheat  are  often  exceedingly  difficult  to  be  sepa- 
rated, and  when  they  "find  their  way  with  the  wheat  into 


565 

bread  flour  they  prove  highly  noxious  to  man,  injuring  his 
health,  and  sometimes  producing  delirium,  stupefaction, 
and  other  symptoms  of  poisoning."  "It  fearfully  deterio- 
rates many  samples  of  foreign  wheat."  I  insert  this,  also, 
because  many  of  these  symptoms,  caused  by  eating  bad 
flour,  have  been  ascribed  to  ergot.  The  people  of  whole 
provinces  in  France  were  affected,  and  a  commission  had 
to  be  sent  to  inquire  into  the  cause,  which  was  ascribed  to 
ergot.     See  "Ergot"  "Ergote-tici," 

Panicum  dactyloji,  L.  )      Bermuda  grass.     Common 

Digitaria  "  Ell.  Sk.  J  in  the  low  country;  vicinity 
of  Charleston.     Fl.  Aug. 

Dem.  £lem.  de  Bot.  iii,  289.  The  root  is  used  in  the 
shape  of  a  ptisan,  as  an  aperient,  and  diuretic.  The  extract 
is  said  to  purge  like  manna.  It  is  eaten  by  dogs  to  pro- 
cure vomiting.     The  plant  contains  a  nutritive  principle. 

Panicum  lialieum,  Walt.  Large-spiked  panicum.  Grows 
in  ponds  and  damp  soils;  vicinity  of  Charleston.  Fl. 
Sept. 

Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  iii,  286.  Detersive  and  mucilagin- 
ous; eaten  by  birds,  but  said  to  be  injurious  to  man.  Mer. 
and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  v,  182. 

Phleum  pratense,  Linn.  Timothy  grass.  Grows  on  Sul- 
livan's island.     It  is  supposed  to  be  a  valuable  grass. 

On  the  subject  of  substitutes  for  Northern  hay,  see  "Cul- 
tivation of  hay,  cutting,  and  curing,"  Patent  Office  Re- 
ports, 1858,  p.  308.  Grass  for  hay  should  be  cut  at  that 
period  when  the  largest  amount  of  gluten,  sugar,  and  other 
matters  soluble  in  water  are  contained  in  it.  That  period 
is  not,  generally  speaking,  when  the  plants  have  shot  into 
seed,  for  the  principal  substance  is  then  woody  fibre,  which 
is  insoluble  in  water,  and  therefore  unfitted  for  being  as- 
similated in  the  stomach.  It  has  been  ascertained  that 
when  the  grass  first  springs  above  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
the  chief  constituent  of  the  blades  is  water,  the  amount  of 


566 

solid  matter  being  comparatively  trifling ;  as  its  growth 
advances,  the  deposition  of  a  more  indurated  form  of  car- 
bon gradually  becomes  more  considerable,  the  sugar  and 
soluble  matter  at  first  increasing,  then  gradually  diminish- 
ing, to  give  way  to  the  deposition  of  woody  substance,  the 
saccharine  juices  being  in  the  greatest  abundance  when  the 
grass  is  in  full  flower,  but  before  the  seed  is  formed.  Many 
of  the  natural  pasture  grasses  —  timothy  grass  (Phleum 
pratense)  —  are  exceptions  to  this  rule.  The  culms  of  the 
latter  "are  found  to  contain  more  nutritious  matter  when 
the  seed  is  ripe  than  those  of  any  other  species  of  grass  that 
has  been  submitted  to  experiment;  the  value  of  the  culms 
simply  exceeds  that  of  the  grass  when  in  flower  in  the  pro- 
portion of  fourteen  to  five." 

Holcus  sorghum.  Guinea  corn;  Indian  millet,  or  doura 
corn. 

This  plant,  a  native  of  India,  has  been  for  a  long  time 
cultivated  with  great  success  on  the  plantations  in  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  it  grows  throughout  the  South- 
ern states.  The  seed  are  produced  in  great  abundance  — 
they  are  pounded  and  eaten  by  the  negroes,  and  are  fed  to 
poultry.  The  Guinea  corn  makes  excellent  brooms,  and  it 
affords  one  of  the  best  materials  to  supply  the  demand,  not 
only  during  the  present  difficulties,  but,  I  trust,  in  the 
future  also.  A  brief  paper  on  its  culture  can  be  found  in 
the  Patent  Office  Reports,  Agricult,  1854,  p.  161,  by  &  T. 
Sorsby,  of  Alabama.  The  reddish-brown  variety  is  much 
more  prolific  than  the  white,  as  it  matures  early.  "The 
plant  grows  well  on  the  poorest  soils,  and  makes  a  good 
crop  on  our  limestone  rock,  where  there  is  enough  of  it 
disintegrated  to  support  the  stalk."  It  needs  but  little  cul- 
ture ;  after  it  gets  a  start  it  defies  weeds  and  grass,  and  will 
make  a  crop  in  spite  of  every  disaster.  "It  is  sometimes 
cut  green  for  soiling  cattle  aud  mules,  and  if  properly  done", 
so  as  not  to  injure  the  buds  near  the  ground,  it  may  be  cut 
several  times  in  a  season.  It  is  also  cured  and  made  into 
fodder  or  hay.     The  stalks  are  sometimes  cut  before  frost 


567 

and  put  into  barns,  and  then  fed  to  stock.  They  remain 
green  for  months,  and  do  not  ferment  nor  spoil  so  soon  as 
Indian  corn  or  other  grain."  This  plaint  will  therefore 
serve  as  a  substitute  for  Northern  hay. 

Sorghum  vulgare,  Pers.     Doura  corn.     Cultivated. 

It  is  said  to  yield  a  larger  bulk  of  seed  per  acre  than  any 
other  cereal  grass  whatever,  not  even  excepting  maize.  It 
has  a  nutritive  quality  about  equal  to  that  of  average  sam- 
ples of  British  wheat;  it  yields  a  beautiful  white  flour 
when  crushed ;  and  it  may  without  any  deterioration  be 
mixed  or  ground  up  with  wheaten  flour,  though  it  differs 
from  wheat,  and  has  some  affinity  to  oats  in  containing  a 
large  quantity  of  casein.  See  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  The 
broom-corn  is  S.  saccharatum  ;  the  Guinea  corn  S.  cernuum, 
Willd,  according  to  Chapman's  So.  Flora. 

Mr.  N".  P.  Walker,  late  principal  of  the  Institute  for  the 
Blind,  at  Cedar  'Springs,  near  Spartanburg,  S.  C,  'writes 
word  that  brooms  are  manufactured  in  large  quantities  by 
the  blind  from  broom-corn  grown  in  the  vicinity. 

Sorghum  saccharatum.  Chinese  sugar-cane.  (Sorgho  sucre.) 
M.  De  Montigny,  the  French  consul,  introduced  into 
Europe  the  Chinese  sugar-cane.  Its  juice  furnishes  three 
important  products,  namely :  sugar,  which  is  identical  with 
that  of  cane,  alcohol,  and  a  fermented  drink  analogous  to 
cider.  The  density  varies,  and  the  proportion  of  the  sugar 
contained  in  it,  from  ten  to  sixteen  per  cent.,  a  third  part  of 
which  is  sometimes  uncrystallizable.  To  this  quantity  of 
uncrystallizable  sugar  this  juice  owes  its  facility  of  readily 
fermenting,  and  "  consequently  the  large  amount  of  alcohol 
it  produces  compared  with  the  saccharine  matter,  observed 
directly  by  the  saccharometer."  Climate  makes  a  great 
difference  in  the  amount  of  sugar  this  plant  yields.  "As 
the  molasses,  too,  is  identical  with  that  manufactured  from 
the  cane,  it  may  be  used  in  the  distillation  of  rum,  alcohol, 
and  the  liquor  called  '  tapa,'  which  resembles  brandy.  It 
will  be  remembered,  too,  that  in  the  manufacture  of  brandy 


568 

or  alcohol  the  uncrystallizable  sugar  can  be  turned  to  ac- 
count, which  in  a  measure  would  otherwise  be  lost.  Anoth- 
er advantage  consists  in.  the  pureness  of  the  juice,  which 
when  thus  converted,  from  the  superiority  of,  its  quality 
can  be  immediately  brought  into  consumption  and  use." 
The  alcohol  produced  by  onty  one  distillation  is  nearly  des- 
titute of  foreign  flavor,  having  an  agreeable  taste  somewhat 
resembling  noyau,  being  much  less  ardent  or  fiery  than 
rum.  M.  Vilmorin  observes  that  the  sugar  is  most  abun- 
dant at  the  putting  forth  of  the  spikes,  but  the  proportion 
of  the  sugar  in  the  stalks  continues  to  increase  until  the 
seeds  are  in  a  milky  state.  See  Patent  Office  Reports, 
Agricult.,  1854,  p.  223.  I  have  seen  excellent  molasses 
made  from  this  plant  in  South  Carolina  by  ordinary  mills. 
The  flavor  and  taste  was  equal  to  good  quality  of  treacle, 
and  it  furnishes  a  most  nutritious  and  useful  food  for 
negroes.  In  Patent  Office  Reports,  1855,  pp.  280-284,  are 
two  statements  by  residents  of  New  York  and  Penns}dva- 
nia  on  the  planting  of  the  sorghum,  also  a  republication  of 
Gov.  J.  H.  Hammond's  early  experience  with  it.  The 
plant  attains  from  ten  to  fourteen  feet  in  height.  I  found 
that  in  the  City  of  Charleston,  on  a  bit  of  ground  which  was 
too  wet  to  mature  any  vegetable,  and  subject  to  the  tides, 
this  plant  grew  to  a  great  height,  even  when  closely  sown. 
I  am  convinced  that  it  is  particularly  suitable  to  be  planted 
as  a  substitute  for  hay,  and  particularly  in  lands  even  too 
wet  for  corn.  It  also  grows  well  on  high  dry  land.  One  of 
the  writers  just  referred  to  thinks  it  will  be  of  great  benefit 
to  every  section  of  the  country,  "not  only  as  a  green  feed 
during  the  hot  months,  but  after  being  cut  up  and  cured 
like  the  corn  plant;  its  stalks  may  be  steamed  during  the 
winter  and  given  to  horses,  oxen,  or  cows,  which  will  com- 
mence eating  at  one  end  and  never  leave  them  till  entirely 
consumed." 

Gov.  Hammond  had  a  rude  mill  put  up  with  two  beech- 
wood  rollers.  Ten  canes  selected,  the  heads  of  which  were 
fully  matured,  yielded  three  quarts  of  syrup.  The  juice 
tested  by  the  saccharometer  showed  that  the  youngest  had 


569 

rather  the  most  and  the  oldest  rather  the  least  saccharine 
matter;  he  made  syrup  "equal  to  the  best  we  could  obtain 
from  New  Orleans."  Lime-water  of  the  consistency  of 
cream  was  put  to  every  five  gallons  of  the  cold  juice.  "A 
good  sugar  mill,  with  three  wooden  rollers,  may  be  erected 
for  less  than  twenty-five  dollars,  and  a  sugar  boiler  that 
will  make  thirty  gallons  of  syrup  a  day,  may  be  purchased 
in  Augusta  for  less  than  sixty  dollars."  Since  the  period 
at  which  this  was  written,  great  improvements  have  been 
made  in  machinery,  etc. 

IsTo  doubt,  sufficient  cane  for  syrup,  and  tobacco  for  the 
use  of  negroes  should  be  raised  on  every  plantation.  Syrup 
made  by  Mr.  J.  T.  White,  near  Charleston,  which  I  tasted, 
was  as  palatable  as  need  be.  Patent  Office  Reports,  1857, 
contain  chemical  researches  by  Prof.  C.  T.  Jackson  (p.  185) 
upon  the  Sorghum.  It  was  also  determined  that  the  "  Chi- 
nese and  African  sugar-canes,  broom-corn,  and  doura  are 
only  varieties  of  a  primitive  species,  the  AndrojDogon  sor- 
ghum of  authors,  or  allowing  the  genus  Sorghum  to  stand, 
Sorghum,  vulgare.  These  plants  should  not  be  allowed  to 
amalgamate.  The  saccharine  secretions  of  one  variety  will 
be  diminished  by  cross  fecundation  with  another  not  produc- 
ing an  equal  amount;  and  the  saccharine  qualities  peculiar 
to  one  may  be  lost  by  planting  in  a  soil  or  climate  differing 
from  that  which  has  brought  them  forth  in  unusual  quality. 
If  their  cultivation  as  a  forage  crop,  and  a  syrup  and  sugar- 
producing  plant  shall  prove  profitable,  the  use  of  the  grain 
in  the  form  of  flour,  as  well  as  food  for  stock,  may  consid- 
erably diminish  the  cost  of  productions.  Bost.  Soc.  ISTat. 
Hist.  Proc.  Molasses  and  sugar  are  both  powerfully  anti- 
septic, and  may  be  used  in  place  of  salt.  Wilson  states 
"that  a  comparatively  small  quantity  of  sugar,  without  any 
salt  will,  if  applied  to  the  muscular  parts  of  the  open  fish, 
preserve  salmon,  cod,  and  whiting  for  several  days,  and  im- 
part to  them  no  disagreeable  taste."     Rural  Cyc. 

Prof.  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  in  an  ex- 
amination of  the  sugar-bearing  capacity  of  the  Chinese 
sugar-cane,  expresses  himself  with  great  moderation.     He 


570 

reminds  the  reader  that  there  are  two  well  known  varieties 
of  sugar,  viz :  glucose,  or  grape  sugar  (a  sugar  moderately 
sweet,  and  difficult  of  crystallization),  and  cane  sugar,  with 
a  very  sweet  taste,  and  easily  crystallized.  The  first  form 
occurs  most  abundantly  in  fruits,  the  latter  in  the  sugar- 
cane, the  beet  root,  the  watermelon,  maple,  etc.  Now  the 
cane  sugar  is  easily  convertible  into  grape  sugar,  and  in  all 
processes  for  extracting  the  former,  one  important  aim  is  to 
prevent  this  transformation.  "For  instance,  were  we  to 
take  the  juice  of  the  sugar-cane  (containing  about  twenty 
per  cent,  of  crystallizable  sugar)  and  concentrate  it,  with- 
out subjecting  it  to  the  action  of  lime,  or  some  other  defe- 
cating agent,  fully  half  of  the  sugar  would  be  rendered 
un crystallizable,  and  there  would  be  only  a  small  yield  of 
sugar,  but  a  large  amount  of  molasses."  So  the  impurities 
must  be  regarded  which  may  give  rise  to  the  alteration 
mentioned,  and  the  yield  of  sugar  may  depend  upon  the 
care  and  skill  in  working  the  juices.  Dr.  Smith  then  asserts 
that  the  juices  of  the  cane  deteriorate  when  kept,  and  ad- 
vises that  no  time  be  lost  after  cutting  in  expressing  the 
juice.  By  etfaminirig  with  polarized  light  (the  most  accu- 
rate method),  the  juice  being  previously  clarified  by  acetate 
of  lead,  he  says,  "this  result  settles  the  question  that  the  great 
bulk  of  the  sugar  contained  in  the  Sorgho  is  crystallizable  or  cane 
sugar  -proper. "  The  difference  of  opinion  which  has  existed 
on  this  subject  no  doubt  arose,  it  is  added,  from  the  fact 
that  different  degrees  of  care  had  been  taken  in  the  con- 
centration of  the  juice,  or  that  a  more  or  less  perfect  proc- 
ess of  defecation  was  resorted  to.  He  used  Soleil's  polar- 
izing saccharometer. 

Dr.  Smith  then  speaks  of  the  processes  for  separating  the 
sugar.  Not  successful  with  the  method  transmitted  by  Mr. 
Wray  through  the  Patent  Office,  he  prefers  the  following : 
warm  the  fresh  juice  rapidly  to  120°  F.;  then  add  to  each 
gallon  of  juice  three  ounces  of  lime,  first  slacking  it  with 
five  or  six  times  its  weight  of  water,  then  bringing  the  tem- 
perature up  to  200°.  It  is  then  filtered,  and  carbonic  acid 
passed  through  the  juice,  afterward  filtered  and  evaporated 
to  a  proper  consistency  for  crystallization. 


571 

Each  time  that  the  juice  is  filtered  if  it  be  allowed  to 
pass  through  well  washed  animal  charcoal,  the  syrup  may 
be  made  very  clear  and  the  sugar  prepared  from  it  will  be 
perfectly  white.  During  the  evaporation  the  temperature 
should  at  no  time  exceed  215°.  It  often  happens  that  we 
have  days  and  even  weeks  for  the  crystallization  to  take 
place ;  but  it  may  always  be  hastened  by  adding  to  the 
thick  syrup  when  cool  a  few  grains  of  brown  sugar  or  a 
little  pulverized  white  sugar.  "It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  sugar  making  is  an  art,  and  cannot  be  practised  by 
every  one  with  a  mill  and  a  set  of  kettles ;  also,  in  extract- 
ing sugar  from  one  vegetable,  we  are  not  to  expect  to  apply 
successfully  those  methods  practised  on  other  vegetables. 
It  was  not  by  applying  to  the  beet  root  the  method  of  ex- 
tracting sugar  from  the  cane  that  France  is  now  able  to 
produce  120,000,000  pounds  of  sugar  from  that  root. 
"What  was  necessary,  for  the  beet  root  is  doubtless  required 
for  the  sorgho,  viz:  a  thorough  study  of  its  nature,  with  a 
process  of  extracting  the  sugar  specially  adapted  to  it." 
Another  observer,  from  Missouri,  says  that  a  proper  mill 
for  grinding  the  cane  would  consist  of  three  cast  iron 
rollers  placed  horizontally,  so  that  the  cane  when  passed 
through  the  mill  would  come  out  quite  dry.  Then  a  set  of 
iron  kettles  made  broad  and  shallow,  ranged  in  a  furnace 
so  that  evaporation  might  be  accomplished  more  rapidly, 
would  be  a  near  approximation  to  the  true  method  of 
grinding  the  cane  and  making  molasses. 

That  the  reader  may  appreciate  some  of  the  difficulties 
in  the  crystallization  of  sugar,  and  perhaps  obviate  them 
thereby,  I  will  condense  some  passages  from  the  article  on 
"  Sugar  "  in  Wilson's  Cyc.  It  applies  as  well  to  the  prob- 
lem of  the  sugar-producing  powers  of  the  Sorghum : 

All  acids  have  the  effect  of  rendering  sugar  uncrystal- 
lizable.  This  is  the  case  with  citric,  tartaric,  and  oxalic 
acids,  which  completely  and  forever  destroy  in  sugar  the 
property  of  crystallization.  Alkaline  substances  also  pre- 
vent the  crystallization  of  sugar  when  mixed  in  excess.  In 
the  manufacture  of  sugar,  therefore,  from   the  expressed 


572 

juice  of  the  cane,  the  beet,  or  any  other  sacchariferous 
plant,  the  quantity  of  sugar  will  be  less,  and  that  of  mo- 
lasses greater,  whenever  too  much  lime  is  used  in  the  first 
purification  of  the  juice.  In  pressing  sugar-cane  the  juice 
which  runs  from  the  mill  passes  directly  into  a  large 
boiler,  in  which,  for  purification,  it  is  heated  but  not  boiled 
with  lime.  The  use  of  this  alkaline  earth  has  a  twofold 
object — to  neutralize  the  acetic  acid  which  exists  ready 
formed  in  the  woody  part  of  the  cane  and  is  pressed  out  by 
the  mill  together  with  the  saccharine  juice,  and  to  clear  this 
juice  from  various  foreign  matters  mingled  with  it.  By  the 
application  of  gradual  heat  these  impurities  form  a  cake 
with  the  lime  at  the  surface  of  the  resinous  liquid,  which  is 
drawn  off*  clear  and  conveyed  to  the  first  boiler.  After 
going  through  several  successive  boilers,  in  each  of  which 
it  is  boiled  to  a  thicker  consistence,  it  at  length  becomes  a 
thick,  dark  syrup,  when  it  is  put  into  shallow,  fiat  coolers. 
The  molasses  separates  from  it.  In  the  very  damp  dis- 
tricts the  cane  yields  no  crystallizable  sugar,  when  the 
whole  of  the  juice  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  spirits. 

Dr.  J.  Brown,  in  1857,  reported  from  the  U.  S.  Agricul- 
tural Society  as  follows,  concerning  the  sorghum  canes :  the 
yield  of  juice  in  weight  of  well  trimmed  stalks  was  about 
fifty  per  cent.  The  number  of  gallons  of  juice  required  to 
make  a  gallon  of  syrup  varied  from  five  to  ten,  according 
to  the  locality,  the  nature  of  the  soil  on  which  it  was  pro- 
duced, and  the  succulent  condition  and  maturity  of  the 
canes.  In  the  province  of  New  Brunswick  it  required  ten 
to  one  ;  in  the  rich  bottom  lands  of  Indiana  and  Illinois 
about  seven  to  one :  and  in  the  light  lauds  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia  five  gallons  to  one  of  syrup  [observe  the 
effects  of  climate  and  latitude].  The  yield  of  syrup  per 
acre  varied  .from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  four  hundred 
gallons.  The  amount  of  pure  alcohol  produced  by  the 
juice  ranged  from  five  to  nine  per  cent.  In  cases  where 
the  plant  was  well  matured  and  grew  upon  a  warm,  light 
soil,  the  juice  yielded  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  per  cent,  of 
dry,  saccharine  matter,  from  nine  to   eleven  per  cent,   of 


573 

which  was  well  defined,  crystallized  cane  sugar,  and  the 
remainder  uncrystallizable  matter  or  glucose,  but  that  taken 
from  stalks  obtained  on  rich  low  lands,  luxuriant  in  their 
growth,  yielded  considerably  less. 

A  palatable  bread  was  made  from  the  flour  ground  from 
the  seeds  of  this  plant,  of  a  pinkish  color,  caused  by  the 
remnants  of  the  pellicles  pr  hulls  of  the  seeds.  By  ac- 
counts from  all  parts  of  the  country,  this  plant  is  univer- 
sally admitted  to  be  a  wholesome,  nutritious,  and  economi- 
cal food  for  animals,  all  parts  of  it  being  greedily  devoured 
in  a  green  or  dried  state  bj^  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  poultry, 
and  swine,  without  injurious  effects,  the  two  latter  fatten- 
ing upon  it  equally  well  as  upon  corn. 

Paper  of  various  qualities  has  been  manufactured  from 
the  fibrous  parts  of  the  stalk,  some  of  which  appears  to 
be  particularly  fitted  for  special  use,  such  as  bank  notes, 
wrapping  paper,  etc. 

Prof.  C.  T.  Jackson,  in  his  chemical  researches  (p.  187, 
P.  0.  Reports,  1857),  found  by  experiment  that  "  it  was 
necessary  to  defecate  the  juice  of  the  sorghum  before  set- 
ting it  to  ferment,  otherwise  the  vinous  fermentation  sets 
in  and  converts  all  the  sugar  into  lactic  acid  and  mannite. 
Hence,  when  either  vinegar,  alcofrbl,  or  wine  is  to  be  made 
from  the  juice  of  this  plant,  it  must  first  be  clarified  or  de- 
fecated by  lime  and  heat,  and  then  filtered.  When  this  is 
done  the  juice  is  readily  made  to  undergo  the  vinous  fer- 
mentation by  the  addition  of  a  little  brewer's  yeast,  and 
afterward  the  returns  will  serve  for  yeast  to  any  quantity 
of  the  juice  that  it  may  be  desired  to  ferment.  I  mention 
this  because  I  know  that  many  persons,  unaware  of  the 
above  named  facts,  have  lost  the  sorghum  juice  they  had 
endeavored  to  ferment  both  for  vinegar  and  wine.  At  the 
proper  temperature  the  sorghum  juice  will  undergo  the 
vinous  fermentation  in  from  three  to  five  days."  Dr. 
Jackson,  though  he  does  not  supply  the  great  desideratum, 
viz :  a  simple  and  clear  method  of  obtaining  the  sugar,  is 
convinced  that  both  the  Chinese  and  the  African  variety  of 
the  sorghum  "will  produce  sugar  of  the  cane  type,  perfectly 


574 

and  abundantly,  wherever  the  canes  will  ripen  their  seeds." 
He  trusts  that  even  the  farmers  of  the  Northern  and 
the  North-western  states  will  not  be  discouraged.  He  says 
that  if  vacuum  apparatus  could  be  applied  to  this  manufac- 
ture it  would  be  far  more  sure  to  succeed,  and  "  perhaps  in 
the  operations  of  a  large  farmer  it  may  not  prove  an  un- 
profitable investment  to  set  up  yacaum  pans  on  his  estate, 
expressly  for  sugar-boiling.  If  this  cannot  be  done,  we 
have  only  to  caution  the  experimenters  against  burning 
the  syrup,  and  to  ask  them  to  wait  at  least  a  week  before 
they  expect  to  see  their  sugar  granulate." 

The  following  is  the  plan  recommended  by  Prof  Jackson 
in  the  "Manufacture  of  sugar  and  syrup  from  the  juice:" 

"  Omitting  as  of  no  immediate  practical  value  to  the 
manufacturer  the  more  refined  processes  which  were  em- 
ployed in  determining  the  amount  of  saccharine  matter  in 
the  juice  of  this  plant,  I  now  describe  a  cheap  and  econom- 
ical method  of  syrup  and  sugar  making,  which  may  be  used 
by  the  farmer.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  necessary  to  filter 
the  juice  of  the  plant  as  it  comes  from  the  mill,  in  order  to 
remove  the  cellulose  and  fibrous  matters  and  the  starch,  all 
of  which  are  present  in  itwhen  expressed.  A  bag  filter,  or 
one  made  of  a  blanket,  placed  in  a  basket,  will  answer  this 
purpose.  Next  we  have  to  add  a  sufficiency  of  milk  of  lime 
(that  is,  lime  slacked  and  mixed  with  water)  to  the  juice 
to  render  it  slightly  alkaline,  as  shown  by  its  changing 
turmeric  paper  to  a  brown  color,  or  reddened  litmus  p%per 
to  a  blue.  A  small  excess  of  lime  is  not  injurious.  After 
this  addition  the  juice  should  be  boiled  say  for  fifteen  min- 
utes. A  thick,  greenish  scum  rapidly  collects  on  the  sur- 
face, which  is  to  be  removed  by  a  skimmer,  and  then  the 
liquid  should  again  be  filtered.  It  will  be  of  a  pale,  straw 
color,  and  ready  for  evaporation.  It  may  now  be  boiled 
down  quite  rapidly  to  about  half  its  original  bulk,  after 
which  the  fire  must  be  kept  low,  the  evaporation  to  be 
carried  on  with  great  caution,  and  the  syrup  constantly 
stirred  to  prevent  it  from  burning  at  the  bottom  of  the  ket- 
tle or  evaporating  pan.     Portions  of  the  syrup  are  to  be 


575 

taken  out  from  time  to  time  and  allowed  to  cool,  to  see 
if  it  is  dense  enough  to  crystallize.  It  should  be  about 
as  dense  as  sugar-house  molasses  or  tar.  When  it  has 
reached  this  condition,  it  may  be  withdrawn  from  the  evap- 
orating vessel,  and  be  placed  in  tubs  or  casks  to  granulate. 
Crystals  of  sugar  will  begin  to  form  generally  in  three  or 
four  days ;  and  sometimes  nearly  the  whole  mass  will 
granulate,  leaving  but  little  molasses  to  be  drained.  After 
is  has  solidified,  it  may  be  scooped  out  into  conical  bags, 
made  of  coarse,  open  cloth,  or  of  canvas,  which  are  to  be 
hung  over  the  receivers  of  molasses,  and  the  drainage 
being  much  aided  by  warmth,  it  will  be  useful  to  keep  the 
temperature  of  the  room  at  80°  or  90°  Fahr.  After  some 
days  the  sugar  may  be  removed  from  the  bags,  and  will  be 
found  to  be  a  good  brown  sugar.  It  may  now  be  refined 
by  dissolving  it  in  hot  water,  adding  to  the  solution  some 
whites  of  eggs  (say  one  egg  for  one  hundred  pounds  of 
sugar)  mixed  with  cold  water;  after  which  the  temperature 
is  to  be  raised  to  the  boiling  point,  and  the  syrup  should  be 
allowed  to  remain  at  that  point  for  half  an  hour ;  then 
skim  and  filter  to  remove  the  coagulated  albumen,  and  the 
impurities  it  has  extracted  from  .the  sugar.  By  means  of 
bone-black,  such  as  is  prepared  for  sugar  refiners,  the  sugar 
may  be  decolored  by  adding  an  ounce  to  each  gallon  of  the 
saccharine  solution  and  boiling  the  whole  together ;  then 
filter,  and  you  will  obtain  a  nearly  colorless  syrup.  Evapo- 
rate this  as  before  directed,  briskly,  to  half  the  bulk,  and 
then  slowly  until  dense  enough  to  crystallize,  leaving  the 
syrup  as  before  in  tubs  or  pans  to  granulate.  The  sugar 
will  be  of  a  very  light  brown  color,  aud  may  now  be  clayed 
or  whitened  by  the  usual  method,  that  is  by  putting  it  into 
cones  and  pouring  a  saturated  solution  of  white  sugar  upon 
it  so  as  to  displace  the  molasses  which  will  drop  from  the 
apex  of  the  inverted  cone.  The  sugar  is  now  refined  as 
loaf-sugar.  The  methods  here  described  are  the  common 
and  cheap  ones,  which  any  farmer  can  employ.  It  may  be 
advantageous  when  operations  of  considerable  extent  are 
contemplated  to  arrange  a  regular  system  of  shallow  evapo- 


576 

rating  pans  for  the  concentration  of  the  syrup,  similar  to 
those  now  used  in  Vermont  for  making  maple  sugar.  It 
is  now  evident  that  no  ordinary  methods  can  compete  with 
those  of  a  regular  sugar  refinery,  where  vacuum  pans  are 
employed,  and  evaporation  is  consequently  carried  on  at  a 
very  low  temperature.  If  the  planter  should  raise  suffi- 
ciently large  crops  to  warrant  the  expense  of  such  an  appa- 
ratus on  his  farm;  he  would  not  fail  to  manufacture"  larger 
quantities  of  sugar,  and  to  operate  with  perfect  success  in 
sugar-making ;  but  this  can  be  done  only  in  the  Southern, 
Middle,  or  Western  states,  where  extensive  farming  is  com- 
mon.  Those  who  wish  to  have  their  brown  sugar  clarified 
can  send  it  to  some  of  the  large  refineries,  where  the  opera- 
tion may  be  completed  and  the  sugar  put  up  in  the  usual 
form  of  white  loaves. 

"A  very  large  proportion  of  our  agricultural  people  will 
doubtless  be  satisfied  with  the  production  of  a  good  syrup 
from  this  plant.  They  may  obtain  it  by  following  the 
methods  described  in  the  first  part  of  this  paper,  or  they 
may  omit  the  lime  and  make  an  agreeable  but  slightly 
acidulous  syrup  that  will  be  of  a  lighter  color  than  that 
which  has  been  limed.  This  syrup  is  not  liable  to  crystal- 
lize, owing  to  the  presence  of  acid  matter.  The  unripe 
canes  can  be  employed  for  making  molasses  and  alcohol, 
but,  as  before  stated,  will  yield  true  cane  sugar." 

I  am  informed  (1862)  that  the  majority  of  cultivators  in 
the  Confederate  States  have  remitted  all  exertions  to  make 
sugar  from  the  African  or  Chinese  sugar-cane.  Their  yield 
of  syrup,  however,  proves  highly  acceptable  and  remunera- 
tive. The  plants  are  largely  grown,  and  tend  measurably 
to  remedy  the  scarcity  of  Louisiana  sugars  and  molasses. 

A  cheap  and  good  vinegar  can  be  made  from  molasses: 
uTo  eight  gallons  of  clear  rain-water  add  three  quarts  of 
molasses;  turn  the  mixture  into  a  clean,  tight  cask,  shake  it 
well  two  or  three  times,  and  add  three  spoonfuls  of  good 
yeast  or  the  yeast  cakes.  Place  the  cask  in  a  warm  place, 
and  in  ten  or  fifteen  days  add  a  sheet  of  common  wrapping 
paper,  smeared  with  molasses,  and  toru  into  narrow  strips, 


577 

and  you  will  have  a  good  vinegar.  The  paper  is  necessary 
to  form  the  'mother'  or  life  of  the  liquor."  The  scientific 
mode  of  making  vinegar  rapidly  is  to  pass  the  liquor  re- 
peatedly through  barrels  filled  with  wood  shavings  ;  any 
sweet  fruits,  or  roots,  such  as  figs,  beets,  watermelon  juice, 
etc.,  add  to  the  bulk  and  quality;  see  "Beta"  and  "  Fie  us." 
Sweet  substances  added  to  vinegar  will  increase  the  quan- 
tity when  exposed  to  the  oxygen  of  the  air  for  the  acetous 
fermentation  to   be  effected.     This  is  promoted  by  heat. 

Mr.  W.  G.  Simms  writes  me  word  (1863)  that  he  made 
excellent  vinegar  during  the  past  summer  from  both  the  May- 
apple  and  persimmon,  thus:  three  bushels  May-apple  pulp, 
carefully  crushed  out  of  the  sack,  five  gallons  of  molasses, 
three  gallons  of  whiskey ;  this  with  thirty-five  gallons  of 
water  made  forty  gallons  of  fine  red  vinegar.  The  persim- 
mon makes  a  "beautiful  white  wine  vinegar,"  thus:  three 
bushels  ripe  persimmons,  three  gallons  of  whiskey,  twenty- 
seven  gallons  of  water. 

The  following  was  communicated  to  the  Charleston  Cou- 
rier (1862)  by  C.  Orr,  of  Mississippi : 

"I  find  from  experiments  I  have  made  that  the  seed  of  the 
sugar-cane  (Sorgho  sucre)  parched  and  ground  as  coffee,  pre- 
pared in  the  usual  way,  but  by  being  boiled  a  little  longer, 
make  an  excellent  substitute  for  coffee,  and  my  own  impression 
is  that  if  it  was  brought  into  general  use  thousands  would 
adopt  its  use  instead  of  coffee,  even  if  coffee  should  again 
be  offered  at  its  former  low  prices,  from  the  fact  that  all 
could  grow  and  cultivate  it  with  so  little  labor,  and  from  its- 
approaching  so  near  to  the  best  Java." 

Saccharum  offieinarum.  Sugar-cane ;  cultivated  in  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  and  Louisiana;  growing  tolera- 
bly well  in  the  lower  portions  of  South  Carolina.  Its  value 
is  well  known.  The  juice  is  said  to  be  an  antidote  for  poi- 
soning by  arsenic,  and  it  might  be  temporarily  substituted 
for  the  hydrated  sesquioxide  of  iron. 

In  Agricultural  Reports  of  the  Patent  Office,  1855,  p.  268, 
there  is  a  paper  on  the  "Failure  of  the  Sugar-cane  in  Louisi- 
37 


578 

ana — proposed  plan  for  restoration,"  etc.  A  brief  history  of 
the  origin  of  the  cane  is  given,  and  the  varietes  usually 
planted.  The  introduction  of  new  plants  by  cuttings  from 
British  Guiana,  or  Venezuela,  is  advised,  and  the  practice 
of  rotation  with  certain  specified  plants,  viz:  wheat,  the 
Chinese  yam,  the  bitter  and  sweet  cassada  {Jatrofha),  and 
other  fusiform  roots,  as  well  as  the  pea-nut,  palma  Christi, 
Bene,  etc. 

For  sugar  from  canes,  whether  Chinese  or  African,  con- 
sult DeBow's  Review,  and  the  Patent  Office  Reports,  1848, 
pp.  281  and  512,  for  long  articles  with  plans,  drawings,  and  a 
full  description;  also  Olcott's  work  on  the  Imphee  and 
Sorgho,  with  methods  of  grinding,  crystallizing,  etc.,  and 
translations  from  the  French.  In  these  all  the  processes  are 
described  for  preparation  of  syrup,  molasses,  best  varieties 
of  cane,  mode  of  culture,  etc.,  etc.  See,  also,  Gov.  Ham- 
mond's contributions  and  experiments  in  "South  Carolina 
Agriculturist,"  published  by  Mr.  A.  G.  Summer,  Columbia, 
S.  C,  1856.  These  papers  are  too  long  to  admit  of  their 
introduction  here,  and  I  content  myself  with  directing  the 
inquirer  to  the  best  sources  of  information.  Wax  is  obtain- 
ed from  the  surface  of  the  cane  by  scraping.  See  Olcott's 
work  for  account  of  its  collection  in  Algeria. 

Oryza  sativa.  Rice.  Cultivated  extensively  in  the  lower 
portion  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  on  the  Cooper  and 
Santee  rivers. 

IT.  S.  Disp.  1268.  The  "seeds,  being  wholly  free  from 
laxative  power,  are  adapted  to  cases  of  weak  bowels,  in 
which  there  is  a  strong  tendency  to  diarrhoea."  The  decoc- 
tion of  rice  water  is  very  applicable,  as  a  nutritive  drink,  to 
fevers,  and  inflammatory  affections  of  the  stomach,  lungs, 
and  kidneys.  Rice  starch  is  said  to  give  "lawns  and  col- 
ored articles  a  look  of  newness  unsurpassed."  This  plant 
is  well  known,  and  largely  used  as  an  article  of  food,  and  for 
exportation.  See  authors  for  references.  Carolina  rice  was 
found  by  Bracconnot  to  contain  85.07  per  cent,  of  starch, 
3.60  gluten,  0.71  gum,  0.29  uncrystallizable  sugar,  0.13  of 


579 

fixed  oil,  4.80  veg.  fibre,  5.00  of  water,  and  0.40  of  saline 
substances.  Dr.  Wood  (U.  S.  Disp.)  discredits  the  opinion, 
expressed  by  some,  that  a  rice  diet  produces  injurious  effects 
on  the  eyes — the  condition  of  myope,  for  instance.  During 
a  residence  of  some  years  in  both  sections  of  South  Caro- 
lina, my  observations  have  been  directed  toward  this  point 
with  special  attention.  I  can  safely  assert  that  in  the  lower 
country  of  this  state,  where  rice  has  long  been  a  favorite 
article  of  food — the  whites  partaking  of  it  every  day,  and 
in  some  form  at  almost  every  meal — the  number  of  near- 
sighted individuals  bears  a  proportion  of  at  least  ten  to  one 
over  those  residing  in  the  upper  districts,  where  it  is  well 
known  that  its  use  has  only  lately  been  generally  introduced. 
So  far  as  our  experience  goes,  as  well  as  that  of  many  others, 
of  whom  inquiries  have  been  made,  scarcely  an  example 
can  be  found  of  it  in  the  latter  portion  of  the  state,  which 
is  distinguished  from  the  other  by  pretty  accurately  defined 
limits.  If  such  a  relation  does  exist  between  the  quality  of 
the  ingesta  and  the  greater  convexity  of  the  cornea,  which 
further  investigation  and  comparison  must  confirm  or  reject, 
it  is  exceedingly  curious,  there  being  as  yet  not  even  a  hy- 
pothesis accounting  for  the  modus  operandi.  It  has  also 
been  indistinctly  assumed  to  depend  upon  a  long  course  of 
luxurious  living  in  the  ancestors;  and  another  difference 
characterizing  these  divisions  of  the  state  tends  to  corrobo- 
rate this  opinion,  and  perhaps  to  throw  some  light  on  the 
existing  disparity  with  respect  to  the  power  of  vision.  This 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  seaboard  of  South  Carolina  was 
earliest  settled  by  the  Cavaliers  and  Huguenots,  comprising 
many  individuals  of  large  means,  who  have  for  several  gen- 
erations been  enabled  to  indulge  in  most  of  the  comforts 
and  luxuries  of  life.  The  case  was  otherwise  with  respect 
to  the  upper  portions,  where  the  inhabitants  for  some  time 
lived  necessarily  in  a  more  plain  and  frugal  way.  Any  ob- 
jections to  the  first  ground,  founded  on  the  assertion  that 
the  negroes  in  the  lower  country  are  not  affected  iu  this 
way,  may  be  anticipated  by  the  reply  that  we  seldom  or 
never  know  when  there  is  among  them  such  defect  in  the 


580 

power  of  vision ;  and  besides,  they  are  in  fact  not  generally 
furnished  with  rice  as  an  article  of  food.  The  condition  of 
things  in  Hindostan  and  China  might  throw  some  light  on 
this  question.  I  am  informed  by  a  gentleman  in  whose 
statements  I  put  implicit  confidence  that  rats  infesting  a 
granary  where  rice  was  stored  were  always  found  to  be 
blind. 

Bread  is  made  of  rice  flour  by  the  matrons  of  the  Con- 
federate States.  "  A  quart  of  rice  flour  is  made  into  a  stiff 
pap  by  wetting  it  with  warm  water,  not  so  hot  as  to  make  it 
lump ;  when  well  wet  add  boiling  water,  as  much  as  two  or 
three  quarts;  stir  it  continually  until  it  boils,  then  add  one 
pint  of  milk;  when  cool  enough  to  avoid  scalding  the  yeast, 
add  half  a  pint  of  good  yeast  and  as  much  wheat  flour  as 
will  make  it  of  a  proper  consistency  for  bread ;  put  it  to 
raise ;  when  sufficiently  risen  it  will  be  necessary  to  add  a 
little  more  wheat  flour.  If  baked  too  soft  the  loaves  will 
be  hollow.  The  bread  must  stand  half  an  hour  or  more  in 
a  warm  place  after  it  is  put  in  the  baking  pans,  and  it  will 
rise  again  almost  as  much  as  it  did  at  first.  The  same 
mixture,  rather  thinner,  baked  in  muffin  rings  makes  an 
excellent  bread."  (Southern  Agriculturist,  from  a  lady.) 
On  the  plantations  of  South  Carolina  much  use  is  made  of 
rice  in  this  and  other  ways,  and  I  have  inserted  the  recipe 
among  our  other  "resources"  in  times  of  war  and  block- 
ade. See  paper  on  culture  of  rice  in  P.  O.  Reports,  1854, 
by  Gov.  R.  F.  W.  Allston,  of  South  Carolina;  also  article 
"Rice,"  Rural  Cyc. 

Parched  rice  has  been  used  as  one  of  the  substitutes  for 
coffee  (see  potato,  Convolvulus).  A  correspondent  of  the 
Mobile  Register,  1862,  says  that  corn  and  rice  mixed  in 
equal  parts,  ground,  and  boiled,  make  an  excellent  substi- 
tute for  coffee.  As  the  grain  of  corn  is  harder  than  that  of 
rice  it  needs  more  browning,  and  should  be  exposed  to  the 
heat  a  few  moments  before  the  rice  is  put  in.  The  writer 
claims  that  "  the  beverage  is  equal  to  the  best  coffee  ever 
drunk!  " 

Zizania  aquatica.  Canada  rice ;  wild  rice.  Deep  marshes 
and  ponds;  Florida,  and  northward.     Chap. 


581 

This  plant  was  experimented  with  by  Sir  Joseph  Banks, 
by  removing  it  from  Canada  to  England  in  1791.  At  first 
it  conld  scarcely  endure  the  climate,  but  gradually  im- 
proved and  became  thoroughly  acclimated.  It  became  "in 
fourteen  generations  as  strong  and  as  vigorous  as  our  indig- 
enous plant."  "It  abounds  in  all  the  shallow  streams  of 
North  America,  feeds  immense  flocks  of  wild  swans  and 
other  water-fowl,  contributes  largely  to  the  support  of  the 
wandering  tribes  of  Indians,  and  seems  destined,  in  the 
opinion  of  Pinker-ton,  to  become  the  bread-corn  of  the 
North.  This  grain  has  become  acclimated  in  Middlesex, 
producing  bland,  farinaceous  seeds,  which  afford  a  very 
good  meal."  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  p.  80,  art.  "Acclimation." 
It  would  perhaps  reward  the  trouble  to  experiment  with 
this  plant  at  the  South,  in  order  by  cultivation  to  procure  a 
new  cereal.  Consult,  also,  Dr.  Maoculloch  on  the  Natural- 
ization of  Plants,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  vols,  xxi 
and  xx vi. 

Leersia  oryzoides,  Swartz.    Florida;  Columbia;  St.  John's. 

This  grass  has  been  cultivated  several  years  by  Dr. 
S.  Stuart  at  his  summer  residence  near  Pendleton.  He 
expresses  himself  much  pleased  with  it.  It  affords  several 
cuttings  through  the  season,  and  seeds  late.  Gibbes'  Cata- 
logue of  Plants,  Columbia,  S.  C. 

Trichodium perennans,  Ell.   1      "Walter's   grass.     Swamps 
Agrostis  perennans.  Gray.     /  and   river   banks  ;    Florida  ; 
St.  John's  parish,  S.  C. 

This  was  the  grass  which  was  cultivated  by  Mr.  Walter 
and  Mr.  Fraser,  who  published  a  plate  and  description  of 
it  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  subscribers  in  England  and 
this  country — the  seeds  to  be  furnished  at  two  guineas  a 
quart  when  five  hundred  subscribers  should  have  been  ob- 
tained. Mr.  Thos.  Walter,  the  author  of  the  Flora  Caro- 
liniana,  who  resided  at  his  place  on  the  banks  of  the 
Santee,  near  Mexico,  in  St.  John's,  Berkley,  thus  speaks  of 
it  under  his   Cornucopia  perennans ;  uGramen  undique  keve, 


582 

saceharinum,  cestaiem  sustinens,  in  hyeme  vigens,  radicibus  geni- 
culisque  se  cito  propagans.  Donum  inestimable,  conditore  ad 
hanc  diem,  reservation,  hoc  cevum,  me  instrumente,  locupleia- 
rvml"  Mr.  Elliott  says  of  it  that  "it  is  a  fine,  delicate 
winter  grass,  but  never  appears  to  grow  vigorously  enough 
for  the  scythe,  nor  will  it  bear,  except  in  shaded  or  damp 
soils,  the  heat  of  summer.  See  notes  to  Prof.  Gibbes' 
"Catalogue."  The  writer  of  this  volume,  in  visiting  the 
ancestral  residence  of  Mr.  Walter,  noticed  this  grass  still 
growing  in  close  proximity. 

Spartina  juncea,  Schreber,  Ell.  Sk.  \     "White  rush ;  rush- 
Limnetis  of  some  Bot.  /  like  spartina.  Grows 

in  the  salt  water  marshes ;  vicinity  of  Charleston  ;  often 
immersed.     Fl.  Aug. 

Dem  Elem.  de  Bot.  vi,  655.  The  flowers  are  purgative. 
The  oil  from  the  young  branches  is  caustic,  and  is  em- 
ployed against  ringworm,  and  in  cutaneous  eruptions  gen- 
erally. The  leaves  are  pungent.  "It  has  been  proposed 
as  a  cultivated  field  plant  for  yielding  fibre,  and  it  would 
produce  well  on  poor,  silicious  soils,  which  are  unfit  for 
flax  or  com.  Its  manufactured  fibre  is  clear,  and  as  strong 
and  soft  as  that  of  flax,  but  is  deficient  in  length.  The 
plant  is  of  small  value  for  forage."     Rural  Cyc. 

Spartina  glabra,  Muhl.  Cat.  Salt  marsh  grass.  Charles- 
ton ;  Newbern. 

Ell.  Bot.  96.  This  plant  is  greedily  eaten  by  horses  and 
cattle ;  and  though  it  affords  a  good  pasturage  for  out-door 
stock,  yet  it  is  remarkable  for  a  strong,  rancid,  and  pecu- 
liar smell,  affecting  the  breath,  the  milk,  butter,  and  even 
the  flesh  of  animals  that  feed  upon  it.  During  the  block- 
ade of  Charleston  it  has  served  as  an  important  substitute 
for  Northern  hay  ;  it  is  also  valued  as  a  manure. 

Ammophila  arenaria,  \    Reed  bent-grass.   North  Carolina ; 

Calamagrostis.  j  sea-shore. 

This  plant  (Arundo  arenaria)   is    the  most  valuable  for 


58a 

planting  on  banks  and  on  the  sea-shore  to  prevent  the 
encroachment  of  the  water.  It  is  planted  in  Holland  for 
this  purpose,  and  in  Britain  it  is  protected  from  destruction 
by  law,  on  account  of  its  great  utility  in  enabling  the  sand 
to  resist  the  action  of  wind  and  tide.  JElymus  arenarius  is 
also  protected  in  Scotland.     (Wilson.) 

Avena  saliva.     Oat.      Cultivated  in  Confederate  States. 

See  authors.  Used  as  a  food  for  horses.  A  gruel  may 
be  made  of  it,  which  is  somewhat  laxative,  and  which  is 
employed  in  fevers. 

Triticum,.     "Wheat  (gluten). 

The  best  wheat  for  making  bread  is  that  containing  the 
most  gluten.  That  called  Canada  wheat  in  the  United 
States  has  the  highest  rank ;  so  Dr.  Beck  states  in  a  paper 
on  the  subject  of  the  value  of  breadstuffs,  P.  0.  Reports  on 
Agriculture.  And  yet  Chaptal  asserts  that  the  wheat  of 
southern  countries  contains  more  gluten  than  that  of  north- 
ern. Chaptal  says  that  the  next  grains  in  order,  yielding 
gluten,  are  barley,  rye,  and  oats.  Gluten  may  be  extracted, 
says  Chaptal,  from  acorns,  chestnuts,  horse-chestnuts,  ap- 
ples, quinces,  wheat,  barley,  rye,  peas,  and  beans ;  from  the 
leaves  of  the  cabbage,  cress,  hemlock,  lovage,  and  saffron ; 
from  the  berries  of  the  elder,  the  juice  of  the  grape,  etc. 
It  is,  however,  contained  in  the  greatest  quantity  in  the 
grain  of  wheat,  and  it  is  from  this  that  it  is  usually  pro- 
cured. 

In  order  to  extract  gluten  the  flour  of  wheat  must  be 
kneaded  into  a  paste  with  water ;  this  paste  must  be  after- 
ward worked  by  the  hand  under  a  stream  of  water  from  a 
spout  till  the  liquid  flows  off  clear ;  the  starch,  sugar,  and 
all  the  other  principles  contained  in  wheat  which  are 
soluble  in  water,  are  thus  carried  off,  and  there  remains  in 
the  hands  only  a  soft,  elastic,  glutinous,  ductile,  semi- 
transparent  substance,  adhering  to  the  fingers  after  it  has 
lost  its  moisture,  and  exhaling  an  animal  odor;  this  sub- 
stance is  called  gluten,  or  the  vegeto-animal  'principle.     There 


584 

are  some  very  nutritive  vegetables,  the  author  adds,  in 
which  the  starch  instead  of  being  combined  with  gluten, 
as  it  is  in  the  bread  corns,  is  united  with  mucilage  ;  this  is 
the  case  with  peas,  beans,  and  potatoes.  The  flour  of  these 
will  not  alone  make  bread,  but  it  is  frequently  used  in 
years  of  scarcity,  mixed  with  that  of  wheat  to  increase  the 
quantity  of  bread.  It  is  not  unusual  in  the  domestic  econ- 
omy of  our  plantations(  to  have  excellent  bread  by  com- 
bining the  sweet  potato  (Convolvulus)  with  wheat  flour.  An 
agreeable,  sweet  taste  is  thus  imparted  to  the  bread. 

The  wheat  used  in  making  starch  in  England  is  either 
entire  or  coarsely  bruised,  and  is  steeped  in  cold  water  till 
it  swells  and  yields  by  pressure  a  milky  juice  ;  it  is  then 
subjected  to  pressure  in  coarse  bags  placed  in  vats  filled 
with  water.  When  all  the  milky  juice  is  expressed,  the 
bags  are  removed,  the  fecula  gradually  subsides  to  the 
bottom,  and  the  supernatant  liquid  soon  ferments  and 
suffers  a  resolution  of  the  principles  dissolved  in  it  into 
alcohol  and  acetic  acid.  The  whole,  after  fermentation, 
is  poured  into  tubs  called  frames,  and  after  the  fecula  sub- 
sides in  these,  the  supernatant  liquid  is  poured  off — the 
upper  part  of  the  sediment,  being  dirty  and  discolored,  is 
scraped  off — and  the  rest  of  the  sediment,  constituting  the 
main  bulk  and  purest  portion  of  the  fecula,  is  repeatedly 
well  washed,  pressed  in  cloths,  and  dried  by  a  gentle  heat; 
during  the  process  of  drying  it  so  contracts  as  to  form  itself 
into  the  somewhat  regular,  small,  six-sided  columns  in 
which  it  is  sold  in  the  shops.  In  this  comparatively  pure 
state  it  is  of  course  less  suited  as  an  aliment  than  sago, 
arrow-root,  etc.  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc.  Consult,  also,  Ure's 
Diet.  Arts.  In  South  Carolina  wheat  flour  starch  is  pre- 
ferred to  that  procured  from  the  potato.  Rice  makes  an 
excellent  starch.  Parched  wheat,  rye,  and  corn  have  been 
used,  as  was  said,  as  substitutes  for  coffee.  The  following 
is  offered  by  a  contributor  to  a  newspaper: 

"  The  best  substitute  for  coffee,  and  a  practical  receipt  for  its 
preparation. — Take  rye,  boil  it,  but  not  so  much  as  to  burst 
the  grain,  then  dry  it  either  in  the  sun,  on  a  stove,  or  a 


585 

kiln,  after  which  it  is  ready  for  parching,  to  be  used  like 
the  real  coffee  bean.  Prepared  in  this  manner  it  can 
hardly  be  distinguished  from  the  genuine  coffee.  The  rye 
when  boiled  and  dried  will  keep  for  any  length  of  time, 
and  consequently  can  be  done  at  some  convenient  moment, 
so  as  to  have  it  ready  whenever  wanted  for  parching." 

Ctenium  Americanum,  Spreng.  1    Low  pine  barrens;  Flor- 
Monocera  aromatica,  Ell.  J  ida  to  North  Carolina. 

The  root  of  this  grass  is  aromatic  and  highly  pungent. 

Glyccria  ftaitans,  Poa  of  Ell.  Sk.  1         Floating  sweet 
Festuca  of  Linn.  J  meadow-grass  ;    water 

fescue.  Grows  in  the  upper  districts ;  Newbern.  Fl. 
Aug. 

Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  iii,  307.  It  furnishes  a  species  of 
manna.  Wilson  states  that  it  will  yield  a  considerable 
produce  even  on  common  undrained  land.  It  constitutes  a 
valuable  forage  for  animals.  Its  seeds  form  a  common 
and  enriching  food  for  fresh  water  fish,  for  aquatic  fowl, 
and  when  gathered  and  dried  they  constitute  the  manna- 
croup  of  the  shops,  and  are  extensively  used  as  an  agree- 
able and  highly  nutritious  material  for  soups  and  gruels. 
The  seeds  are  shaken  out  over  pieces  of  cloth.     Rural  Cyc. 

Poa  compress,  L.  True  blue  grass.  (P.  pratensis  of  others. 
Both  good  grasses;  growing  in  Florida,  and  throughout 
the  Southern  states.) 

It  is  considered,  says  Dr.  Lee,  editor  of  the  Southern 
Field  and  Fireside,  March  8,  1862,  as  the  plant  the  very 
"  best  adapted  to  stop  washing  and  store  up  fertilizers  in 
their  growth,  for  feeding  stock,  and  yielding  rich  manure." 
It  does  not  require  replanting,  and  grows  well  on  poor 
granite  hills.  It  prevents  all  abrasion  of  the  turf  by  the 
heaviest  rains.  It  is  also  not  difficult  to  subdue  with  the 
plough.  "It  makes  a  good  sod  and  very  fertilizing  turf, 
and  thus  fattens  the  land,  and  fattens  all  kinds  of  farm 
stock."     These   perennial   grasses   enrich    the   land   more 


586 

than  forest  trees,  because  "they  approximate  grain  and 
flesh  in  their  chemical  composition  more  than  forest  leaves. 
Cattle  that  will  starve  on  oak  and  pine  leaves  will  wax  fat 
on  blue  grass."  See,  also,  "Southern  Homestead."  See 
Dr.  Lee's  editorials  in  Southern  Field  and  Fireside,  1861, 
for  much  information  on  the  grasses  best  to  be  used  as  fer- 
tilizers and  for  food  and  manure.  He  recommends  the 
"tall  oat  grass"  (Arrhenatherum  avenaceum)  and  the  Texas 
mesquit  grass  (Holcus  lanatus)  introduced  from  England, 
called  also  velvet  grass  and  white  timothy.  The  "Ber- 
muda grass"  is  very  pertinacious,  and  is  excellent  in 
eradicating  nut-grass. 

Among  the  grasses  useful  for  hay  are  the  herds'-grass, 
timothy,  orchard,  and  clover.  See,  also,  Southern  Field 
and  Fireside,  May  4,  1861,  for  article  on  "Stalks  of  corn  as 
substitutes  for  hay." 

Wilson  states  that  the  juice  of  the  upright  variety  of  Poa 
consists  almost  entirely  of  pure  mucilage.  Rural  Cyc.  Con- 
sult papers  on  the  "Grasses,"  "Hay,"  etc.,  Sinclair's  Hortus 
Gramineus  Woburnensis,  Loudon's  Encyclopaedia,  etc.,  for 
full  account  of  the  relative  value  of  grasses.  Salt  is  often 
mixed  with  hay  which  has  become  wet,  as  a  restorative ;  it 
is  then  much  relished  by  cattle. 

Festuca  duriuscula,  L.     Fescue  grass.     Introduced. 

Several  species  of  Festuca  grow  within  the  limits  assigned 
to  me.  See  botanical  authorities.  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. 
states  that  this  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  native  grasses  of 
England  for  general  utility.  It  thrives  there  on  widely  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  soil,  yields  a  moderately  large  bulk  of  prod- 
uce, maintains  much  of  its  verdure  in  winter,  and  resists 
the  usual  withering  effects  of  excessive  drought  and  heat 
in  summer.  It  is  well  adapted  by  its  winter  verdure  and 
fine  foliage  for  forming  the  sward  of  parks  and  the  herbage 
of  ornamental  sheepwalks;  and  when  raised  on  a  thin, 
healthy  soil,  or  on  poor,  silicious  sand,  it  has  culms  of  so 
very  fine  and  slender  a  form  as  to  appear  well  suited  to  the 
straw  hat  manufacture.     See  op.  cit.  and  the  Woburn  Ex- 


587 

periments.     This  grass  would  likely  be  serviceable  when 
planted  on  sands  subject  to  inundation. 

Arundinaria  gigautea,  macrosperma,  Mx.  Cane.  Banks  of 
large  rivers ;  Lauson  in  his  Travels  in  Carolina  says  it  does 
not  grow  north  of  James  river ;  confirmed  by  Nuttall. 
Groom's  Cat. 

The  cane  and  reed  (A.  teota,  Muhl)  are  well  known  and 
used  for  many  purposes :  sometimes  slit  and  made  into  chair 
bottoms,  weavers'  shuttles,  and  wherever  a  round,  hollow 
wood  is  required  for  cheap  tubing,  etc.  The  canes  attain  a 
great  height  and  size  on  our  river  courses,  and  are  a  char- 
acteristic growth;  they  once  grew  luxuriantly  throughout 
the  upper  country  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  whence 
the  names  of  the  creeks  and  rivers,  but  have  been  almost 
entirely  consumed  by  animals.  See,  also,  the  "History  of 
the  upper  country  of  South  Carolina,"  by  my  friend,  Jno. 
Logan,  Ch.  1860. 

Bromus  seealinus,  W.  Chess.  Dr.  McBride  found  it  in 
St.  John's,  Charleston  district.     Fl.  July. 

Flora  Scotica,  1087.  This  is  the  plant  which  is  said  to 
render  the  seeds  of  wheat  bitter.  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de 
M.  Med.  i,  672 ;  Journal  Gen.  de  Med.  lxxxviii,  82 ;  Shec. 
Flora  Carol.  297.  A  good  green  dye  is  extracted  from  the 
flowers.  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  662.  M.  Cordier  finds  that  it 
is  bland  in  its  action ;  it  was  once  thought  to  possess  pur- 
gative powers. 

Bromus  purgans,  L.  Cathartic  bromus.  Mountains  of 
S.  C.     Fl.  August. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  i,  672.  It  was  said 
to  be  anthelmintic,  and  that  forty  grains  would  produce 
vomiting.     Effect  uncertain. 

Dactylis  glo?nerata,  Linn.    American  orchard-grass  ;  clus- 
tered dactylis.    James'  island,  near  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 
Shec.  Flora  Carol.  492.     This  is  the  species  instinctively 


588 

sought  after  and  swallowed  by  dogs  and  cats  when  they 
are  inclined  to  vomit,  or  to  envelop  the  splinters  of  bone 
collected  in  their  stomachs.  "  It  is  a  valuable  grass,  and 
ought  to  be  cultivated  with  care." 

Cyperace^:.     (The  Sedge  Tribe.) 
They  contain  very  little  fecula  or  sugar. 

Cyperus  articulatus,  Mich.  Jointed  cyperus.  "Grows  on 
Hilton  Head  island,  at  Ogeechee,"  Ell.;  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton.    Fl.  July. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de  M.  Med.  ii,  567.  In  Guinea 
this  is  considered  one  of  their  remedies  for  worms. 

Cyperus  odoraius,  L.  River  banks ;  vicinity  of  Charles- 
ton.    Fl.  August. 

Lind.  JSTat.  Syst.  Bot.  385.  The  root  has  a  warm,  aro- 
matic taste,  and  the  infusion  is  given  in  India  as  a 
stomachic.     Ainslie,  Mat.  Med.  Ind.  288. 

Cyperus  virens,  Mx.  Sharp  grass.  If  incautiously  drawn 
through  the  hand  the  stem  will  cut  severely  writh  its  sharp 
angles. 

Cyperus  hydra,  Mx.  Nut-grass.  St.  John's ;  Newbern. 
Prof.  Holbrook  informs  me  that  Gen.  Pinckney  told  him 
it  was  introduced,  though  Elliott  does  not  mention  it.  Its 
reproductive  power  is  marvellous,  and  hence  it  is  a  great 
scourge  to  the  planter,  depreciating  the  value  of  land.  It 
is  with  difficulty  eradicated  by  constant  hoeing;  by  this 
process  in  its  constant  efforts  to  throw  its  leaves  to  the 
light  the  root  becomes  exhausted.  The  experiment  has 
been  successfully  tried  by  J.  McQueen,  Esq.,  of  Georgia, 
Ell.     The  destruction  of  the  seeds  is  also  thus  secured. 

Scirjjus  maritimus,  L.  V    Maritime  Scirpus.    Marsh- 

"  macrostachyus,  M.  Jes;  "Little  Ogeechee  bridge, 
Beven  miles  from  Savannah,"  Ell.  Collected  in  St.  John's ; 
vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  June. 

Dem.  Elem.  de  Bot.  ii,  292.  Aromatic,  and  slightly  nu- 
tritive. 


Eleocharis  palustris,  R.  Brown.  )      Bog  maritime 

Scirpus  "        Linn,  and  Ell.  Sk.  j  Scirpas  ;     marsh 

club-rush.    Grows  in  rice  fields,  often  immersed.    Collected 
in  St.  John's ;  vicinity  of  Charleston.     Fl.  June. 

Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  cle  M.  Med.  vi,  262.  Lemery  says 
the  roots  are  astringent,  and  that  they  are  employed  in 
decoction  in  diarrhoea  and  hemorrhage.  It  is  much  used 
in  Europe  in  the  manufacture  of  chairs,  mats,  and  delicate 
work,  and  I  would  invite  the  attention  of  those  engaged 
in  similar  operations  in  this  country. 

Carex  acuta,  L.  Grows  in  bogs  in  the  upper  districts, 
often  immersed,  Lightfoot ;  JSTewbern.     Fl.  April. 

Fl.  Scotica,  ii,  566.  In  Italy  the  leaves  are  used  by 
glass-makers  to  bind  their  wine  fiasks,  and  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  chair  bottoms ;  also  by  coopers  to  place  between 
the  seams  of  cask  heads  to  render  them  air-tight.  The 
Typha  latifolia  and  Scirpus  lacustris,  both  found  in  the  Con- 
federate States,  have  been  used  for  this  purpose.  (See 
these  plants.)  The  makers  of  turpentine  barrels  might 
find  them  convenient  and  valuable,  supplying  the  place  of 
the  strip  of  wood  shaving  I  have  seen  some  of  them 
employ. 


Class  IV.     RHIZAaSTTHS. 


Class  V.     ACROGENS,  OR  FLOWERLESS  PLANTS. 

In  this  volume  I  pass  over  very  lightly  the  Cryptogamia, 
Filices,  Lichenes,  Musci,  and  Algce,  the  ferns,  lichens,  mosses, 
etc.,  referring  the  reader  for  full  details  to  my  report  before 
the  Am.  Med.  Assoc,  vol.  vii,  on  the  "  Medicinal,  Poison- 
ous, and  Dietetic  Properties  of  the  Cryptogamic  plants 
of  the  United  States,"  a  volume  of  126  pages. 

The  leaves  of  ferns,  one  of  the  subdivisions  of  this 
class,  generally  contain  a  thick,  astringent  mucilage,  with 


590 

a  little  aroma ;  on  which  account  they  may  be  considered 
pectoral  and  lenitive.  Lindley  states  that  almost  any  of 
them  may  be  substituted  for  the  Adiantum  pedatum,  and  A. 
capillus  veneris,  which  especially  abound  in  these  products. 
I  have  observed  in  the  leaves  of  the  Osmurtda  regalis,  and 
of  several  other  species,  a  taste  strongly  resembling  that  of 
spermaceti. 

Equisetace^e.     {Horsetail  Tribe.) 

Eguisetum  Icevigatum.  Horsetail.  IsTorth  Carolina,  and 
northward.  The  seeds  of  the  horsetail  are  remarkable  for 
hygrometrical  movement.  The}'  contain  a  great  deal  of 
silica.  The  dried  stems  of  E.  hiemale  and  E.  arvense  are 
imported  from  Holland  for  cleaning  wooden  utensils  and 
polishing  cabinet  work,  turnery,  and  metallic  wares.  "  This 
plant  might  be  profitably  cultivated  for  the  use  of  turners, 
cabinet-makers,  and  other  artificers."     "Wilson's  Rur.  Cyc. 

Polypodiace^;. 

Pteris  aguilina,  L.  Brake.  Grows  in  damp  pine  lands  ; 
sent  to  me  from  Abbeville  district  by  Mr.  Reed ;  collected 
in  St.  John's;  vicinity  of  Charleston;  !Newbern.     Fl.  July. 

Dem.  Elein.  de  Bot.  iii,  347.  The  root  is  vermifuge  and 
astringent ;  and  is  said  to  be  a  remedy  for  the  tape-worm, 
one  ounce  of  the  decoction  being  used  at  a  dose.  This  plant 
contains  a  very  large  proportion  of  alkali.  Fl.  Scotiea,  656. 
Its  ashes  will  yield  double  the  quantity  of  salt  afforded  by 
any  other  plant — forming,  therefore,  a  manure  adapted  to 
potatoes.  Made  into  balls  with  water,  it  is  employed  to 
wash  linens.  The  astringency  is  so  great  as  to  render  it 
useful  in  preparing  leather  and  kid  gloves. 

Wilson,  in  his  Rural  Cyc,  says  that  the  main  interest  in 
British  ferns  is  concentrated  in  the  Pteris,  and  as  it  is  abun- 
dant in  the  Confederate  States,  I  will  condense  his  remarks: 
it  was  formerly,  he  says,  in  great  request  for  thatch,  and 
usually  lasted  in  that  capacity  eight  or  nine  years  on  the 
north  side  of  a  roof,  and  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  on  the  south 
side  ;  but,  except  in  the  meanest  hovels,  it  has  been  super- 


591 

seded  by  heath,  straw,  tiles,  and  slates.  It  was  formerly  used 
in  considerable  quantity  in  both  the  glass  and  the  soap  man- 
ufactory, but  cheaper  and  better  articles  have  since  supplied 
its  place;  still,  in  the  Confederate  States  we  may  find  it  use- 
ful as  a  material  for  a  supply  of  potash  and  in  making  lye. 
The  plant  also  possesses  tannin.  It  is  used  as  a  fuel  for 
heating  ovens  and  burning  lime;  it  forms  good  litter  to  pro- 
tect esculent  roots  in  pits  during  winter.  In  England  the 
rank  growth  of  the  brake  is  destroyed  by  irrigation. 

The  Adiantum  pedatum,  L.,  maiden  hair,  yields  a  useful 
syrup,  called  by  the  French  "capillaire,"  which  is  a  refresh- 
ing beverage  mixed  with  water  in  fevers.     Farmer's  Encyc. 

OSMUNDACE^E. 

Osmunda  regalis,  Mx.  Royal  fern ;  flowering  fern.  Grows 
in  damp  soils;  collected  in  St.  John's.     Fl.  July. 

Wade's  PL  Rariores,  87.  Dr.  Stokes  says  that  impres- 
sions of  this  fern  are  observed  in  nodules  of  iron-stone  in 
the  Colebrookdale  iron-works,  and  that  it  is  the  only  spe- 
cies of  an  indigenous  (European)  vegetable  which  has  ever 
been  found  in  a  fossil  state,  all  others  being  of  American 
growth.  "Withering,  Supplem.  to  Mer.  and  de  L.  Diet,  de 
M.  Med.  1846,  536.  It  is  sometimes  employed  in  dropsy,  as 
an  astringent  in  injuries,  and  by  Dr.  Heidenreich  in  the  rad- 
ical cure  of  hernia;  he  reports  fifty  cases  ("gueris  radicale- 
ment")  after  the  method  of  Simon:  giving  the  root  in  wine 
internally,  and  placing  upon  the  hernial  ring  compresses 
which  have  imbibed  the  decoction  of  the  plant.  Journal 
de  Chim.  M6d.  viii,  395,  second  series,  1842.  In  the  Diet. 
Univ.  de  M.  Med.  v,  113,  its  employment  in  this  affection 
was  spoken  of.  Hermann  boasts  of  it  as  having  a  direct 
action  upon  the  intestinal  canal  ("bas  ventre"),  which  it 
purges  mildly  in  doses  of  two  to  four  drachms  of  the  pow- 
der. It  acts  upon  the  bile,  augments  digestion,  and  strength- 
ens chylification.  The  extract  has  been  thought  peculiarly 
suited  to  cases  of  children  affected  with  caries,  mixed  in 
milk  or  water,  and  continued  for  some  time.     Aubeil's  Obs. 


592 

sur  l'emploi  de  l'Osmond,  Journal  Gen.  de  la  Soc.  de  Med. 
xlvi,  59,  1843.  Lindley,  in  his  Nat.  Syst.  Bot.  400,  states 
that  it  "has  been  employed  successfully  in  doses  of  three 
drachms  in  the  rickets."  The  leaves  have  been  selected  to 
make  cradles  for  delicate  children,  from  some  supposed  good 
effects  derived  from  their  use.  Encyclop.  Meth.  Botanique, 
iv,  652.  The  strong  resemblance  which  I  have  noticed  be- 
tween the  taste  of  this  species  and  spermaceti  is  quite  marked. 
The  plant  seems  scarcely  to  be  kuown  in  this  country,  and 
I  observe  no  notice  of  it  in  the  American  works. 

Algle.     (Inarticulate.) 

Fucus  serratus  and  F.  vesiculosus. — Iodine  exists  most 
abundantly  in  most  species  of  Fucoidece,  which  form  the 
greatest  part  of  the  sea-weeds  of  our  coast.  I  extract  the 
following  from  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc,  in  order  that  so  use- 
ful a  substance  may  be  made  in  the  Southern  Confeder- 
acy, and  also  refer  the  reader  to  the  plants  furnishing 
iodine,  which  are  treated  of  in  my  paper  in  the  seventh 
volume  Am.  Med.  Assoc.  Iodine  also  occurs  in  the  sponge, 
and  in  many  moluscous  animals.  But  it  is  from  the  incin- 
erated sea-weed  or  kelp  that  the  iodine  in  large  quantities 
is  obtained.  As  the  soap  manufacturers  are  in  the  habit  of 
obtaining  their  soda  from  kelp,  iodine  may  be  procured 
very  economically  from  the  residuums  of  their  operation, 
according  to  the  process  invented  by  Dr.  Ure,  which  is  as 
follows : 

The  brown  iodic  liquor  of  the  soap-boiler,  or  the  solution 
of  kelp  from  which  all  the  crystallizable  ingredients  have 
been  separated  by  concentration,  is  heated  to  about  230° 
Fahr.,  poured  into  a  large  stone-ware  basin  and  saturated 
with  diluted  sulphuric  acid.  When  cold  the  liquor  is  fil- 
tered through  woollen  cloths;  and  to  every  twelve  ounces 
(apothecary's  measure)  is  added  one  thousand  grains  of  black 
oxide  of  manganese  in  powder.  The  mixture  is  put  into  a 
glass  globe  or  large  matrass,  with  a  wide  neck,  over  which 
a  glass  globe  is  inverted,  and  heat  is  applied,  which  causes 
the  iodine  to  sublime  copiously,  and  to  condense  in  the  up- 


593 

per  vessel.  As  soon  as  the  balloon  becomes  warm  another 
is  substituted  for  it;  and  when  the  second  becomes  heated 
the  first  is  again  applied.  The  iodine  is  withdrawn  from 
the  globes  by  a  little  warm  water,  which  dissolves  it  very 
sparingly ;  and  it  is  purified  by  undergoing  a  second  subli- 
mation. The  test  made  use  of  for  the  detection  of  iodine 
in  any  solution  is,  it  is  well  known,  starch;  sometimes  a 
few  drops  of  sulphuric  acid  should  be  added,  and  a  blue 
color  is  obtained  if  iodine  be  present.  See  Rural  Cyc, 
lire's  Diet.,  and  works  on  chemistry  and   mat.  medica. 

Kelp  is  obtained  from  the  two  fact  mentioned  above, 
from  which  also  soda  is  obtained.  I  will  insert  the  process 
as  given  by  Wilson,  in  order  that  it  may  be  better  known 
by  those  living  on  our  coasts.  He  says  that  on  the  Scot- 
tish coast  the  sea-weed  is  cut  close  to  the  rocks  during  the 
summer  season,  and  afterward  spread  out  upon  the  shore 
to  dry,  care  being  taken  to  turn  it  occasionally  to  prevent 
fermentation.  It  is  then  stacked  for  a  few  weeks,  and 
sheltered  from  the  rain,  till  it  becomes  covered  with  a 
white,  saline  efflorescence,  and  is  now  ready  for  burning. 
This  is  usually  accomplished  in  a  round  pit  lined  with 
brick  or  stone ;  but  the  more  approved  form  for  a  kiln 
is  oblong,  about  two  feet  wide,  eight  to  eighteen  long,  and 
from  two  to  three  deep.  The  bottom  of  this  is  covered 
with  brush,  upon  which  a  little  dried  sea-weed  is  now 
thrown  gradually  as  fast  as  the  combustion  reaches  the 
surface,  and  should  there  be  much  wind  it  is  necessary  to 
protect  it  by  covering  the  sides  with  sods;  after  the  whole 
is  burnt  the  mass  gradually  softens,  beginning  at  the  sides, 
when  it  should  be  slowly  stirred  up  with  a  heated  iron 
bar,  and  incorporated  till  it  acquires  a  semifluid  consist- 
ence. This  part  of  the  process  requires  considerable  dex- 
terity, and  if  the  mass  continues  dry  a  little  common  salt 
should  be  thrown  on,  which  acts  as  a  flux.  When  cold  it 
is  broken  up,  and  is  now  ready  for  sale.  JSTotwithstandiug, 
the  author  adds,  that  kelp  contains  but  two  or  three  per 
cent,  of  carbonate  of  soda,  while  Spanish  barilla  often 
contains  twenty  or  thirty  [see  "Salsola"  and  "Salicornia"], 
38 


594 

the  manufacture  of  this  article  during  the  Continental 
war  increased  prodigiously.  Stones  were  placed  within 
the  flood-mark  of  sandy  shores,  which  became  covered 
with  sea-weed.  Potash  will  often  supply  its  place,  but 
-soda  is  indispensable  to  the  making  of  plate  and  crown 
glass  and  all  hard  soaps.  The  barilla  is  obtained  in  France 
from  Salicornia  annua,  which  yields  fourteen  per  cent,  of 
soda.  In  the  Confederate  States  we  have  species  of  all  the 
genera  yielding  soda  and  potash,  viz.:  Salsola,  Salicornia, 
Statice,  Atriplex,  and  Chenopodium,  all  embraced  under  the 
family  Chenopodiacece. 

"Sea-ware,"  or  sea-weed,  cast  upon  the  shores  is  largely 
'Collected  and  used  as  manures.  They  contain  a  large  pro- 
portion of  nitrogenous  and  saline  matters,  with  earthy  salts 
in  a  readily  decomposable  state.  They  also  contain  much 
soluble  mucilage. 

Fungi,  or  Fungace^e.     ( The  Mushroom  Tribe.) 

There  are  many  species  among  these  allowed  the  posses- 
sion of  medicinal  virtues  of  a  high  order  as  well  as  of 
great  value  in  the  arts,  and  a  rich  field  is  open  to  the 
investigator  in  these  interesting  departments  of  natural 
history  and  indigenous  medical  botany.  I  am  compelled 
to  refer  the  reader  for  details  to  the  paper  before  men- 
tioned. 

Agaricus  campestris.     Edible  mushroom. 

The  reader  will  find  in  my  report  to  the  American  Med. 
Association,  vol.  vii,  1854,  on  the  Medicinal  Properties  of 
the  Cryptogamic  Plants  of  the  United  States,  a  full  and 
elaborate  account  of  the  edible,  poisonous,  and  medicinal 
fungi.  See,  also,  Eoques'  treatise,  "Champignons  Comes- 
tibles/' Paris.  I  introduce  portions  of  a  paper  from  the 
Patent  Office  Reports,  1854,  on  the  mode  of  cultivation 
of  the  mushroom : 

"  The  kind  most  generally  cultivated  in  the  gardens  is 
the  '■Agaricus  campestris,'  which  is  thus  described  by  McMa- 
hon:  'The  gills  of  this  are  loose,  of  a  pinky  red,  changing 


595 

to  liver  color  in  contact  but  not  united  with  the  stem;  very 
thick-set,  some  forked  next  the  stem,  some  next  the  edge  of 
the  cap,  some  at  both  ends,  and  generally  in  that  case  ex- 
cluding the  intermediate,  smaller  gills.     Cap  white,  chang- 
ing to  brown  when  old,  and  becoming  scurfy,  fleshy,  and 
regularly  convex,  but  with  age  flat  and  liquefying  in  d»cay, 
flesh  white,  diameter  common ly  from  one  inch  to  three,  or 
sometimes  four  or  more.     Stem  solid,  one  to  three  inches 
high,   and  about  one    inch    in    diameter.'     Loudon   says 
'The  mushroom  is  a  well  known  native  vegetable,  springing 
up  in  open  pastures  in  August  and  September.     It  is  most 
readily  distinguished  when  of  middle  size  by  its  fine  pink 
or  flesh  colored  gills  and  pleasant  smell  ;  in  a  more  ad- 
vanced stance  the  sfills  become  of  a  chocolate  color,  and  it  is 
then  more  apt  to  be  confounded  with  other  kinds  of  a  dubi- 
ous quality  ;  but  that  species  which  most  nearly  resembles 
it  is   slimy  to  the  touch,  and  destitute  of  the  line  odor, 
having  rather  a  disagreeable  smell.     Further,  the  noxious 
kind  grows  in  woods  or  on  the  margin  of  woods,  while  the 
true  mushroom  springs  up  chiefly  in  open  pastures,  and 
should  be  gathered  only  in  such  places.'    Armstrong  gives 
the  following  directions  for  cultivating  the  garden  mush- 
room: 'Prepare  a  bed  early  in  October,  either  in  a  corner 
of  the  hot-house,  if  you  have  one,  or  a  dry  and  warm  cellar. 
The  width  of  the  bed  at   the  bottom  should   not  be  less 
than  four  feet,  and  its  length  in  proportion  to  the  spawn 
provided.     Its  sides  should  rise  perpendicularly  one  foot, 
Hiid.  should  afterward  decrease  to  the  centre,  forming  four 
sloping  surfaces.     We  need  hardly  say  that  the  material 
of  the  bed  at  this  stage   of  the  business  must  be  horse- 
dung,  well  forked,  and  pressed  together,   to   prevent   its 
settling  unequally.     It  should  then  be  covered  with  long 
straw,  as  well  to  exclude  frost  as  to  keep  in  the  volatile 
parts   of  the  mass,  which  would  otherwise  escape.     After 
ten   days  the  temperature  of  the  bed  will  be  sufiiciently 
moderated,  when  the  straw  is  to  be  removed,  and  a  cover- 
ing of  good  mould  to  the  depth  of  an  inch  laid  over  the 
dung.    On  this  the  seed  or  spawn  of  the  mushroom  (which 
38* 


596 

are  threads  or  fibres  of  a  white  color,  found  in  old  pasture 
grounds  in  masses  of  rotten  horse-dung,  sometimes  under 
stable  floors,  and  frequently  in  the  remains  of  old  hot-beds) 
is  to  be  placed  in  rows  six  inches  apart,  occupying  all  the 
sloping  parts  of  the  bed,  which  is  again  to  be  covered  with 
a  second  inch  of  fresh  mould  and  a  coat  of  straw.     If 
your  bed  has  been  well  constructed  your  mushrooms  will 
be  fit  for  use  at  the  end  of  five  or  six  weeks,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  be  productive  for  several  months.     Should  you, 
however,  in  the  course  of  the  winter  find  its  productiveness 
diminished,  take  off  nearly  all  the  original  covering,  and 
replace  it  with  eight  or  ten  inches  of  fresh  dung,  and  a 
coat  of  clean  straw.     This  by  creating  a  new  heal  will 
revive  the  action  of  the  spawn,  and  give  a  long  succession 
of  mushrooms.'     The   garden   mushroom   is  eaten   fresh, 
either  stewed  or  boiled,  and  preserved,  as  a  pickle,  or  in 
powder,    or    dried   whole.     The    sauce   commonly    called 
'ketchup'  is  or  ought  to  be  made  from  its  juice  with  salt 
and  spices.     Wild  mushrooms  from  old  pastures  are  gen- 
erally  considered   as   more   delicate   in   flavor   and   more 
tender  in  flesh  than  those  raised  in  artificial  beds.     But 
in  the  young  or  butter  mushrooms  of  the  cultivated  mush- 
rooms  there   is    evidently  much   less  risk  of  deleterious 
kinds  being  employed.     The  soil  employed  should  be  vir- 
gin earth  with  turf  well  reduced,  neither  too  dry  nor  too 
wet,  otherwise  it  will  not  be  capable  of  being  beaten  solid. 
It  must  be  laid  regularly  over  the  beds,  two  inches  thick. 
From  the  time  of  earthing  the  room  or  cellar  should  be 
kept  at  a  temperature  of  50°  to  55°  Fahr.     If  higher  it 
will  weaken  or  destroy  the  spawn ;  if  lower  it  will  vege- 
tate slowly,  and  if  watered  in  that  state  numbers  of  mush- 
rooms will  be  prevented  from  attaining  perfection.    "Water 
must  be  applied  with  extreme  caution,  being   nearly  as 
warm  as  new  milk,  and   sprinkled  over  the  beds  with  a 
syringe  or  small  watering  pot.     Cold  water  destroys  both 
the  crop  and  the  beds.     If  suffered  to  become  dry  it  is 
better  to  give  several  light  waterings  than  one  heavy  one. 
Beds  thus  manas-ed  will  bear  for  several  months,  and  a 


597 

constant  supply  kept  up  by  earthing  one  bed  or  more  every 
two  or  three  months.  If  when  in  full  bearing  the  mush- 
rooms become  long  stemmed  and  weak  the  temperature  is 
certainly  too  high,  and  air  must  be  admitted  in  proportion 
as  the  beds  decline.  To  renovate  them  the  earth  must  be 
taken  off  clean;  and  if  the  dung  is  decayed  the  dang 
must  be  reformed,  any  good  spawn  being  preserved  that 
may  appear  y  but  if  the  beds  be  dry,  solid,  and  full  of  good 
spawn,  a  fresh  layer  of  compost  three  or  four  inches  thick 
may  be  added  mixed  with  a  little  of  the  old,  and  beaten 
solid  as  before." 

Mushrooms  may  be  grown  in  a  cellar  or  other  vaulted 
place  with  equal  success,  and  *iot  unfrequently  with  a  great- 
er advantage,  the  same  rules  being  adopted;  but  no  fire  is 
necessary,  and  less  water.  Antidote  to  poisonous  sorts:  all 
fungi  should  be  used  with  great  caution,  for  even  the  edi- 
ble garden  mushrooms  possess  deleterious  qualities  when 
grown  in  certain  places.  All  the  edible  species  should  be 
thoroughly  masticated  before  taken  into  the  stomach,  as 
this  greatly  lessens  the  effects  of  poisons.  "When  accidents 
of  this  sort  happen,  vomitiDg  should  be  immediately  ex- 
cited, and  then  the  vegetable  acids  should  be  given,  either 
vinegar,  lemon  juice,  or  that  of  sour  apples;  after  which 
give  ether  and  antispasmodic  remedies  to  stop  the  excessive 
bilious  vomiting.  Infusions  of  gall-nuts,  oak  bark,  and 
Peruvian  bark  are  recommended  as  capable  of  neutralizing 
the  poisonous  principle  of  mushrooms.  It  is,  however,  the 
safest  way  not  to  eat  any  of  the  good  but  less  common  sorts 
until  they  have  been  soaked  in  vinegar.  Spirits  of  wine 
and  vinegar  extract  some  part  of  their  poison ;  and  tannin 
matter  decomposes  the  greatest  part  of  it. 

The  following  is  a  method  of  raising  mushrooms  by  a 
gentleman,  "R.  C,"  of  Beaufort,  S.  C,  which  I  obtain  from 
an  agricultural  paper.  "I  send  you  a  method  of  raising 
mushrooms,  by  which  I  have  very  unintentionally  succeed- 
ed in  producing  an  abundance  each  spring  for  the  past  three 
years,  and  sometimes  during  the  winter  and  fall :  fence  in 
a  spot;  strew  litter  or  trash  from  the  woods  in  it,  say  one  or 


508 

two  inches  thick,  and  shut  up  stock  cattle  in  it  every  night 
for  a  week  or  two  any  time  between  January  and  June. 
Let  the  manure  remain  untouched,  and  in  the  fall  or  winter, 
if  the  weather  proves  mild,  an  abundance  of  mushrooms 
will  be  produced,  which  may  be  eaten  without  any  fear,  as 
only  edible  ones  will  grow."' 

A  discovery  was  made  some  few  years  since  that  two  or 
three  species  of  agaricus  form  by  deliquescence  an  inky 
fluid  which  dries  into  a  blister  colorefl  mass,  is  capable  of 
being  used  as  a  water  color  for  drawing,  and  retains  its 
color  in  defiance  of  all  the  common  chemical  agencies.  Dr. 
Coxe,  of  America,  who  put  the  discovery  completely  to  the 
test,  is  disposed  to  think  that  the  deliquescent  fungi  might 
be  prepared  into  an  excellent  India  ink;  that  its  dried  de- 
posit, mixed  with  oil,  might  probably  answer  for  engravings, 
and  that  as  the  ink  appears  to  be  indestructible  by  any 
agency  short  of  burning,  it  might  be  tried  for  the  filling  up 
of  bank  notes  and  other  valuable  papers.  The  kinds  of 
agarici  which  possess  the  inky  property  appear  to  be  those 
designated  ocatus,  cylmdricus,  and  porcellaneus.  It  is  this 
propert}*  of  blackening  which  enables  us  to  separate  the  poi- 
sonous from  the  edible.  Wilson's  Rural  Cyclop.  See  my 
report  Am.  Med.  Assoc,  vol.  vii,  on  Medic.  Edible  and 
Poisonous  Prop,  of  Cryptogamic  Plants  of  the  United 
States. 

The  Patent  Office  Reports,  1854,  contain  papers  on  the 
cultivation  of  the  garden  mushroom  from  Armstrong,  Lou- 
don, and  others. 

Uredo  segetiun  and  U.  fetida.  Smut  in  wheat  and  corn  is 
prevented  by  soaking  the  grains  before  planting  for  twelve 
hours  in  a  solution  of  lime-water,  salt  and  water,  or  acids. 
The  taste  and  smell  of  smutted  wheat  is  disguised  by  mo- 
lasses, hence  it  is  often  purchased  by  those  making  sweet- 
ened bread.     See  a  full  description  in  Wilson's  Rural  Cyc. 

• 

(Ecidium,  Uredo,  Puccinia,  etc.  Minute  parasitical  fungi ; 
attacking  fruit  trees,  plants,  etc.     See  article  in  Rural  Cyc, 


599 

and  my  report  on  Medical  and  Poisonous  Properties  of  the 
Cryptogamic  Plants  of  United  States,  Trans.  Am.  Med. 
Assoc,  vol.  vii;  also,  H.  W.  Haveners  Fungi  Carotin.  Exsi- 
cati;  Loudon's  Encyc.  of  Plants;  Sowerby's  English  Fungi, 
and  Berkely's  Crypt,  of  England. 

Lycoperdon  solidum.  Tuckahoe;  Indian  bread  or  Indian 
loaf.  1  have  collected  it  in  the  fields,  St.  John's,  S.  C.  It 
is  not  mentioned  by  Chapman. 

This  subterranean  root  or  fungus  has  been  described  by 
Clayton  and  LeConte,  and  by  Dr.  McBride,  of  South  Caro- 
lina, in  a  communication  to  the  N.  Y.  Philosoph.  Societ^y. 
See,  also,  Med.  Report,  vol.  vi,  and  Farm.  Encyc.  It  is  very 
probably  nutritious.  Its  internal  color  is  white;  it  resem- 
bles a  brown  loaf  of  coarse  bread. 


I  am  instructed  to  append  the  following  formulae: 

In  coughs,  with  bronchial  or  pulmonary  irritation: 
I^s — Tinct.   Sanguinaria3...fSj. 

Tinct.  Opii f3ij. 

Vini  Ipecacuanha? . .  .f  5yj . 

Syr.  Tolutan fgij. 

Ft.  Mist.     Xxx  or  xl  gtts.  three  or  four  times  a  day. 

If  much  inflammatory  action  be  present  the  following 
preferred : 

j$r — Tinct.  Sanguinarise..fSi. 

Morph.  Sulph gr.  iss. 

Tinct.  Digitalis. 
Vin.  Antimon....a  afgss. 
01.  Gaultheria3...gtts.  x. 
Misce.     From  xx  to  xl  drops  twice  or  thrice  daily. 

In  general  anasarca,  with  debility  : 
Jfe- — Juniperi  Fructi...Sij- 
Potass.  Mtrat....Sss. 
Vini  Albi o  ij. 


600 

Macerate  for  twelve  hours ;  dose  two  tablespoonfuls  twice 
a  day. 

Ayer's  Cherry  Pectoral: 

jfc — Morph.  Acetat gr.  iij . 

Tinct.  Sanguin.  Canaden 3y- 

Yin.  Antim.  et  Potass.  Tart. 

Vin.  Ipecacuanhse aa^iij. 

Syrup.  Pruni  Virginiani giij- 

In  chronic  bronchial  disease: 

|Jr — Tinct.  Cimicifugse  Racemosa. 

Tinct.  Sanguinariee a  aSj. 

Morphiae  Sulph gr.  ij. 

Syr.  Acacise gij . 

Ft.  Mist.  Dose,  one  teaspoonful  when  the  cough  is 
urgent. 

In  lithic  acid  diathesis : 

Jfr — Liquor  Potassee fgss. 

Tinct.  Humuli fgiss. 

Infusi  Columbse fgiv. 

Sjrrup.  Aurantii f Sij . 

Ft.  Mist.  Dose,  one  tablespoonful  twice  or  three  times 
a  day. 

Excellent  alterative  and  cathartic  pills,  used  with  advan- 
tage in  all  glandular  diseases,  in  anasarca,  and  in  hepatic 
derangement : 

Jfc — Extracti  Podophylli . .  5j . 
Ext.  Aloes  Hepat...5iij. 

Gambogise 3j  • 

M.  Ft.  pilulse,  lx. 

Cathartic  pills : 

Jfc- — Extracti  Podophylli 3\j« 

Hydrarg.  Chlorid.  Mitis..3j. 

01.  Cajuputi gtts.  vj. 

M.  Ft.  massa.  in  pilulas,  lx  div. 


601 

May  "be  prescribed  in  cases  in  which  blue  mass  or  mila 
mercurials  are  indicated: 

J$r — Podophyllin gr.  xv. 

Zinziberis  Pulv 3SS- 

Ext.  Gentianse 5ss. 

M.  Ft.  mass,  in  pilulas,  xxx  dir. 

A  mild  laxative  and  alterative : 

Jfc — Podophyllin 3j  • 

Sacchari  Albi..3xix. 
Triturate  and  mix  thoroughly.     Dose  from  v  to  x  grs. 

•Aperient,  in  torpor  of  bowels  proceeding  from  hepatic 
derangement : 

jfc — Tinct.  Sano;uinaripe. 

Tinct.  Aloes  Comp.  a  afgij. 
Ft.  Mistura.     Dose,  from  xx  to  xxx  drops  twice  daily. 

Laxative,  in  habitual  costiveness : 

Jgr — Sanguinarife  Pulveris. 
Ehoei  Pulveris. .a  a3j. 

Saponis 9'ij. 

Mix  with  water.     Div.  in  pilulas  xxxij.     One  pill  morn- 
ing and  night. 


\ 


RARE  BOOK 
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